Night of No End
by SassySunshine
Summary: Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Madge, Delly, Johanna, Foxface, Finnick, Annie, Cato, Clove, Glimmer, Marvel, Cashmere, and Gloss all go to stay the weekend at a mansion. But the party turns deadly, and each of them is dying one by one. Can the others figure out who the murderer is, before they're all dead by morning? AU, modern-day Panem!
1. Truth or Dare

**Hey guys! Alright, before you can jump on me for writing this while I'm writing Panem High, I'm going to run them alongside each other since they're both kind of in the same time frame (AU modern-day Panem) and they're all the same characters, so Panem High will still be updated. Panem High, along with this, will be updated sporadically.**

**Now, enjoy the story! Here is chapter 1!**

* * *

Night of No End  
by ChipetteGirl10  
Truth or Dare

"Okay, Peeta, do we have all of the food we're going to need for the weekend?" Katniss Everdeen asks blonde-haired Peeta Mellark as she stuffs some clothes into a bag. Peeta looks up from the stove.

"Almost. I'm making a few more loaves of bread, and then you, Madge, Gale, Delly, and I are set. That leaves all of the others to get their own food, because they will not steal any of ours. I bake strictly for my friends!" Peeta says, pushing a pan with dough on it into the oven. Katniss nods and puts her bow and arrows in a special box. Peeta eyes her.

"Why the bow and arrows?"

"Just in case I need them. You never know what's going to happen when you throw together a bunch of teenagers and twenty-somethings for a weekend," Katniss responds with a shrug, throwing in an extra bow and another sheath of arrows. Peeta shakes his head with a smile.

"So what do you plan to do? Shoot down the rest of us like some mad killer?" he asks in amusement.

"No, just shoot some animals. But if one of us is actually a murderer, maybe then I'd shoot them. I make clean kills and hardly ever miss, so they'd have a hard time killing me," Katniss answers, walking over to Peeta and kissing his cheek before sitting down at a table. She picks up a pad and crosses off a few things.

"Peeta, have you packed up all of your things like your shorts, shirts, and…_baking supplies_? Why ever would we need those? Bash people to death?" Katniss says with a smirk.

"No! You know I don't kill and kitchen things are cooking things, not weapons! What would I use, a piece of bread?" Peeta says with a laugh.

"Alright, back on topic, have you packed all of your things that you need?" Katniss asks.

"All except for what I'm using now," Peeta responds. Katniss nods and checks a few more things off the list when the front door swings open.

"I'm here with Delly and Madge!" a male voice shouts dramatically. Gale bursts into the kitchen, striking a pose. Madge and Delly walk in behind him.

"Hey guys!" Madge greets.

"Heya!" Delly adds enthusiastically.

"Hi guys, are you all packed?" Katniss says. Delly, Madge, and Gale all nod, taking a seat in the kitchen. Katniss smiles.

"Great! Peeta will be baking us a few snacks, for District 12 only. So I'm hoping that the others make their own things, or at least know how to cook when we use the kitchen there," Katniss explains. The others nod in agreement to the plan.

"Did you all bring a weapon of some sort?" Gale asks.

"Just why would we need weapons?" Madge asks.

"You guys haven't heard of that ancient game, Clue? Or any of those movies? Don't you guys know? I've heard of ancient movies and an ancient board game called Clue. In Clue, the host of the party for some guests mysteriously dies, and one of the guests is the killer. They have to figure out who's killing everyone before everyone else dies. In those movies, it starts with a party with a bunch of people. Then one person drops dead. And then another. One of the killers is one of the guests, one of the friends of the others. In about half the movies, only a few party guests remain and the killer goes to jail or ends up dying by someone else. In a fraction of the movies, more than a few party guests survive. But in some…everyone dies," Gale says, "and that's why we need weapons. In case someone goes off their nut and decides to murder everyone. That way we can defend ourselves."

"I'm bringing two bows and two sheaths of arrows," Katniss says.

"I wasn't going to bring anything, maybe except some loaves of bread to beat people with, but I guess I'll bring some knives, maybe some other kitchen stuff that can hurt people," Peeta adds.

"I can choke people with some rope," Delly says.

"I'll bring rope, too, since I have nothing," Madge agrees.

"I'm bringing a couple of bows and some sheaths of arrows like Katniss," Gale says to the others.

"Johanna is probably going to bring her ax, Finnick is probably bringing a trident, Clove will probably have knives, Cato will most likely have his prized sword, Marvel's gonna probably have a spear, Glimmer…Glimmer has gotten better with bows and arrows, so she'll probably bring those. I think Cashmere is also bringing bows and arrows. Gloss…I don't know about him, probably some knives. Annie would bring rope. Farrah is probably going to end up bringing some rope, too," Katniss tells the others.

"Alright. That's a lot of identical items. So say someone has a slash mark somewhere. They'll know it's either Peeta, Johanna, Gloss, Clove, or Cato. The spear is quite obvious, there's a gaping bloody hole, so we'll know Marvel had something to do with it. The bows and arrows are smaller holes, so we'll know it was me, Katniss, Glimmer, or Cashmere. If someone was hanged or choked with rope or something, there should be rope burns on them, so we can tell it was Delly, Madge, Annie, or Farrah. Finnick's trident should be easy, there would be three big bloody holes all the same distance apart. Should Peeta bash anyone with bread, there'd be crumbs, or if he stabs people with a fork, there would be three small bloody holes, probably in numerous areas," Gale explains.

"That sounds reasonable enough," Peeta comments. Delly and Madge nod in agreement.

"Okay, good. Then we just have to wait for Peeta's loaves of bread to finish baking and for him to pack his stuff, and then we can take the car out to that mansion," Katniss says.

"Alright," Peeta agrees, "I'll start packing up anything I won't need to be using anymore, and some kitchen weapons."

"Don't talk, just do. Or else I won't feel sympathetic when you're the first one dead," Gale says flatly.

"Peeta," Katniss says, jabbing Gale, "don't you have a sword somewhere?"

"Oh, yeah, I do! I forgot I had it in case I needed it. You know…just in case I was ever…attacked. Or I needed it," Peeta replies sheepishly, "I'll, uh, I'll go get it. Delly, watch the bread!" With that, Peeta runs out of the room to find his sword.

"Alright, who thinks he'll be the first to die? Quick, place bets before he gets back," Gale says. Katniss smacks Gale on the backside of the head and Madge rolls her eyes. Delly only shakes her head. That is when Peeta bursts back into the room, holding the sword out in front of him. He glares at Gale.

"I heard that, Hawthorne!"

Gale holds his hands up defensively.

"Don't go psycho on me here, Mellark. I was kidding," he says.

"Sure you were," all of the others in the room respond. Gale crosses his arms and pouts.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Gale finally parks the car in the huge driveway of the mansion. The others are all already there, unloading their own cars. Cato and Clove had gotten a ride with Glimmer, Marvel, Cashmere, and Gloss. Johanna took Foxface with her. Finnick and Annie went together.

"Hey guys," Katniss greets, stepping out of the car. The others turn to them with grins.

"Ah, the District 12 pack. We've been waiting for you!" Finnick says to them.

"Yeah, well, Baker Boy had to make some bread," Gale says, "and we ended up losing time."

"Shut up Gale!" Peeta calls, pulling some stuff from the trunk of the car. Gale rolls his eyes.

"Okay, anyway, Gale, I trust you told them about those ancient movies and that board game," Johanna says, interrupting the fight. Gale nods, and Cato, Clove, Glimmer, Marvel, and Cashmere all share confused looks. Foxface shakes her head as she turns to look at Gloss with a smirk.

"You forgot to tell them," she points out bluntly.

"I was busy!" Gloss says defensively.

"Ugh," Johanna moans, "Alright, for those of you who haven't heard, many thousands of years ago, there was an ancient board game called Clue. Clue could have up to six players. In Clue, the host of a party at a mansion mysteriously gets killed, and one of the guests is the murderer. All through the game, you're trying to figure out which guest is the murderer, it could even be you. Then there are a lot of thousands-of-years-old movies in which a mansion party is held, and the guests start dying one by one. The murderer is a guest. The number of guests still living by the end various, but sometimes the murderer is the only one to survive. Gloss, did you at least tell them to bring weapons?"

"Yeah," Gloss responds.

"Okay, good. I'm hoping none of us will go berserk and murder everyone, but that's a possibility. But do you hear me? If you are the murderer, all of us have the permission to kill you!" Johanna exclaims.

"Then how's about we have some buddies? You know, split into some groups of two or three?" Foxface suggests.

"Good idea, Farrah," Katniss comments.

"Alright. I'll go with Peeta and Katniss," Gale says.

"I'm staying with Madge," Delly adds.

"I'll hang out over there with Glimmer and Cashmere," Clove says.

"I'll take Marvel and Cato," Gloss volunteers.

"Annie and I will keep together," Finnick says.

"I guess that means I'll be taking Farrah over here," Johanna concludes.

"What if we're in a group with the murderer?" Peeta questions.

"Then kill that person before they kill you!" Johanna answers.

"Got it," Peeta says.

"Alright, now, off the topic of death and murderers, who's up for a mansion party?" Glimmer says. All of the others cheer, and they drag all of their things into the entrance of the mansion. On the left is a very fancy-looking living room. On the right is a grand marble staircase, and straight ahead is a plethora of other rooms. Finnick crashes onto the couch in the living room and turns on the giant flat-screen TV. Annie sits next to him, and Finnick wraps his arm around her. Clove rolls her eyes and takes a seat on a red leather recliner. Peeta and Katniss head off toward the kitchen, lugging Peeta's bags with them. Gale and Madge occupy one of the three love seats in the room. Delly rolls her eyes at them and occupies another couch with Johanna, Foxface, and Glimmer. Cato and Marvel squish onto another love seat together. Cashmere and Gloss each take a recliner.

"Peeta," Katniss says urgently, the kitchen door swinging closed behind them, "forget about using kitchen weapons. I was joking. But any of these people could be the murderers. Kitchen utilities aren't going to cut it. You need your sword, and keep it nearby at all times. There's something inside of me telling me tonight is gonna be deadly, someone's gonna die."

"Relax Katniss. Just…don't worry about me, okay? I'll carry my sword around, and I won't let anyone kill me. I need to protect you," Peeta says, putting his hands on Katniss's forearms.

"Promise?" Katniss asks.

"I promise," Peeta responds, kissing her forehead.

Katniss pulls him into a hug and rests her head on his chest.

"Don't leave my side," she mumbles.

"I won't," Peeta says back to her, "Now we better get going back into the living room. People are going to wonder what happened to us. Don't forget, we still haven't told them we're a couple." Katniss nods and the two of them part, and they proceed back into the living room. The others are watching the official Panem news channel, looking for anything interesting. Katniss sits down on a vacant love seat, and Peeta takes the seat next to her.

"Have you guys found anything?" Katniss asks.

"Bank robberies in District 3, a fire in District 8, and terrible neighbors in District 9. Nothing really," Cato responds.

"Nothing really," Clove mutters sarcastically.

"You and Peeta were gone for longer than you should have been, Katniss," Delly observes.

"He wanted to put some of the stuff away, but I insisted on keeping them in their bags for now. We argued for a few minutes before leaving them where they were," Katniss says quickly. Delly nods, not buying the entire thing. She directs her attention back at the TV. Katniss leans into the cushiness of the love seat. Peeta smirks at her, the smirk going unnoticed by everyone else.

"So…what do you guys want to do? The TV is boring, it's not dark yet, and we're all sitting here making small talk that lasts three sentences," Johanna says, breaking the awkward silence.

"Let's play truth or dare," Gale suggests, wiggling his eyebrows mischievously.

"I challenge you!" Marvel shouts from his position on the love seat.

"Let's do it spin-the-bottle style. I'll go find a bottle," Johanna says, stepping out of the room. The others sit in a circle on the floor, and in order going clockwise, Finnick sat down with Annie next to him, then Katniss, then Peeta, and then Gale, and then Madge, then Glimmer, then Marvel, and then Cato, followed by Clove, Cashmere, and Gloss, and then Foxface. There is an open space between Foxface and Finnick for Johanna to occupy. Johanna returns a minute later with an empty bottle. She sits it in the center of the circle.

"I'll spin first," she says, spinning the bottle around. The end tip points at Cato. Johanna smirks deviously.

"Cato, truth or dare?"

"Truth, because your dares are probably brutal," Cato says.

"Oh, no, my truths can range from better to much worse," Johanna says. Cato groans.

"Just tell me what I'm answering."

"Do you have a crush on anyone?"

Cato thinks for a minute and blushes.

"Uh…yeah, I do…" Gale wolf-whistles while all of the girls in the room look at each other.

"Okay, enough! It's my turn to spin the bottle, okay? Just…just shut up!" Cato says, giving the bottle a hard spin. It spins for a while before finally pointing to Madge. Cato grins.

"Madge, truth or dare?"

"Truth?"

"Is that an answer or a question?"

"TRUTH!"

"Alright, gosh. Have you ever stolen something of value, illegally? Don't worry, anything that happens in this mansion stays in this mansion," Cato says.

"Fine. I have. I once stole a pearl necklace from a jewelry store. But I was three! A-And we gave it back, too!" Madge answers, blushing. Cato rolls his eyes.

"Goody-goody. Alright, your turn to spin." Madge spins the bottle and it lands on Gale. Madge grins at him deviously.

"Oh, no. That look is never good."

"Gale, truth or dare?"

"Well, I'll go with dare, it can't be anything too embarrassing, right?"

"Gale! You just jinxed yourself!" Katniss exclaims. Madge's grin widens.

"You jinxed yourself, too, Katniss!" Katniss gives Madge a look of horror.

"Just what is going on with you, my blonde friend?"

Peeta looks at Madge's grin, and then back at Gale and Katniss.

"Gale Hawthorne, I dare you to make out with Katniss Everdeen." Gale looks at Katniss. Katniss's face drains of color. Peeta's fists ball.

"Err…must I?"

"Either that, or each time you chicken out on a truth or dare, you have to remove clothes!" Johanna says, grinning. Gale groans.

"Why did I ever suggest this?" He shakes his head and leans in, grabbing Katniss by the shoulders and kissing her. It takes all of Peeta's willpower not to beat down Gale right there. Katniss didn't look pleased with it either. Gale seems neutral about the situation. Katniss tries to pull away, too early much to her dismay.

"According to me, make-outs are twenty seconds and longer," Madge states. Peeta suppresses a glare and watches as Katniss and Gale keep kissing. Madge smirks.

"Alright, twenty seconds are up!" she says. Katniss collapses on the floor. Gale's face is flushed.

"Gale! I would've taken off clothes!" Katniss shouts at him. Gale shrugs sheepishly and grabs the bottle, spinning it hard. It lands on Peeta. Peeta looks at Gale. Gale grins at him.

"Truth or dare, Peeta?"

"Truth."

"Darn it. Oh, I have a good one for this, too. Are you dating anyone? Surely, a merchant boy like yourself would have a girlfriend," Gale says. Katniss tenses.

"Yeah, I do," Peeta answers.

"What's her name?" Gale prods.

"You already asked me a question. My turn to spin," Peeta responds, taking the bottle and spinning it. It lands on Glimmer.

"Glimmer, truth or dare?"

"I'll take a dare," Glimmer says in responds.

"I dare you to kiss Marvel. It's only five seconds," Peeta says innocently, smirking all the while. Marvel looks pleased. Glimmer looks at Marvel, and then at Peeta, and then at everyone else. Finally, she makes up her mind and removes one of her socks. Marvel's face falls in disappointment as Glimmer grabs the bottle.

The bottle lands on Katniss.

"Truth or dare, Katty?" Glimmer asks.

"Meh. Dare, I suppose," Katniss responds.

"I dare you to go in that closet with Peeta for five minutes," Glimmer says. Katniss had briefly forgotten she had told all of the girls in the room about Peeta and the bread when they were eleven. Katniss sighs.

"Alright," she agrees, stalking toward the closet, trying to look irritated. Peeta walks in after her and shuts the door. Johanna locks it from the outside. Peeta and Katniss sit down on two boxes. Peeta grins at her.

"Nice acting irritated. It was super believable," he says.

"It wasn't that hard. People irritate me a lot. I'm just glad Glimmer picked you. I told all of the girls about the bread when we were eleven, and I suppose they're trying to use that against me. Anyway, I wonder how you endured the kiss between me and Gale. I saw your fists curled, ready to pound Gale," Katniss says.

"I can't believe I didn't. Remind me to kill Madge later. …Wait, no, with the whole murder thing…that came out wrong. I need to talk some sense into her later," Peeta says.

"At least they _don't_ know we're dating, or else every boy would be kissing me," Katniss responds.

"Speaking of kissing," Peeta says to her, wiggling his eyebrows. Katniss smirks and pulls him into a kiss. Johanna knocks on the door a minute later.

"Time's up!" she says. Peeta and Katniss pull away just in time. The door opens, and Katniss stalks out, looking more irritated than when she went in. Peeta glares at her before returning to his spot. Katniss spins the bottle, and it lands on Marvel.

"Truth or dare, Marvel?" Katniss asks.

"Dare!" Marvel says giddily, looking at Glimmer.

"I dare you to go run outside in your boxers," Katniss responds. Marvel's grin drops.

"Um, no." With that, Marvel takes off a sock.

He spins the bottle, and it whirls around the circle before landing on Clove.

"Clove, truth or dare?"

"Truth," Clove responds.

"Do you have a crush on anyone?" Marvel asks.

"Way to be original!" Johanna snaps.

"Well, yeah, I actually do. But I'm not gonna tell you, if that's what you're all thinking. That boy shall remain nameless!" Clove answers. With her answer, Clove spins the bottle. It lands on Cashmere.

"Cash, truth or dare?"

"Dare me," Cashmere says.

"I dare you to admit your lifelong feelings about him to Peeta," Clove responds with a smirk. Cashmere nods and grabs Peeta, pulling him up to his feet. Katniss looks on sympathetically.

"Peeta Mellark, all of my life ever since I've met you, I've loved you. Watching you, stalking you for all of those years has been a true gift! Peeta, please love me back!" Cashmere says, gripping Peeta in a hug and placing a passionate kiss on his lips. Peeta grimaces and pulls away, and sits back down in his spot. Cashmere takes her place and spins the bottle. It lands on Gloss.

"Truth or dare, my brother?"

"I feel adventurous. Dare," Gloss says.

"I dare you to go outside and dance in the rain with Katniss. Oh look, conveniently, it's actually raining!" Cashmere chirps. Gloss grabs Katniss by the hand and opens the door, leading her outside. The others all peer from the windows. Peeta, unfortunately, has a front-row seat as Gloss twirls Katniss, tosses her in the air, catches her, dips her, and then finally, they both fall on the ground. And then he kisses her. Peeta feels jealousy raging within him as they come back inside. Katniss is flustered, and Gloss looks satisfied.

He takes hold of the bottle and spins it. It lands on Annie.

"Annie, truth or dare?"

"Truth! Just truth, none of that embarrassing stuff!" Annie says. Finnick places a hand on her shoulder.

"Annie, it's truth or dare. It's gonna be embarrassing. Unless you want to chicken out of whatever they say…but then you have to take off something of your clothes," Finnick says.

"Relax, Annie. I'll give you an easy one. Do you think Finnick really loves you?" Gloss asks. Annie nods vigorously and grabs the bottle, spinning it hard. It lands on Delly.

"Delly, truth or dare?" Annie asks.

"Truth," Delly chooses.

"Are you jealous of anyone in this circle?" Annie asks. Delly looks around at everyone and slowly nods. Everyone gasps out loud. Delly shrugs and grabs the bottle. It spins hard and fast around the circle before finally coming to a halt on Peeta. Peeta groans.

"Peeta, my friend, truth or dare?" Delly asks.

"Dare," Peeta answers.

"I dare you to go kiss Clove," Delly responds. Clove looks at Peeta, and Peeta looks at Clove. Peeta slowly yanks off his sock. He glares at Delly before grabbing the bottle and spinning it. It lands on Finnick.

"Finn, truth or dare?"

"I'll go with dare," Finnick responds.

"Alright, Finnick. I dare you to go kiss Johanna," Peeta responds with a smirk. Finnick rips off one sock.

"That is a big no-no," Finnick responds, taking the bottle and spinning it hard. It lands on Foxface.

"Farrah, truth or dare?" Finnick asks.

"Dare. I thought that was obvious," Foxface responds.

"I dare you to go kiss Peeta over there," Finnick says. Foxface smirks and runs across the circle, tackling Peeta and pressing her lips to his. Peeta struggles to get away from her and Katniss sits there, trying not to let her anger show through. When Foxface gets off of Peeta, he looks mad.

"Stop daring people to kiss me!" he shouts.

"Nope," Johanna says flatly from her position. Foxface grins at her and spins the bottle. It lands on Johanna herself.

"Jo, truth or dare?"

"Truth," Johanna responds.

"Do you have a vendetta against any of us?"

"Nope."

Johanna grabs the bottle and spins it, and the game continues.

* * *

"Something tells me you guys know about me and Peeta," Katniss says with grit teeth, after just enduring Gale kissing her again half an hour later. Johanna nods with a grin.

"While you guys were in the closet we all listened in to your conversation," she explains. Katniss glares at her.

"Alright, let's end the game," Finnick interrupts, "because if anyone takes off any more clothes things are going to get awkward." Everyone else agrees and slides their clothes they had taken off back on.

"What do we do now?" Cato asks.

"We do something. Maybe order a pizza. I'm hungry," Johanna says.

"I can make one!" Peeta shouts.

"Alright, stop shouting and calm down Peeta. Don't make me kiss Katniss again just to shut you up," Gloss says. Peeta glares at him and steps closer to Katniss.

"Alright Baker Boy, make our pizza then," Johanna instructs. Peeta is about to get up when the lights go out.

And then somebody screams.

* * *

**Cliffhanger! Alright, so I've decided to run this along Panem High, so that story and this one will be updated sporadically. Who do you think screamed? Who do you **_**want**_** to have screamed? Who **_**don't **_**you want to have screamed? Let me know, and I'll see you in the next chapter!**


	2. Murder in the Mansion

**Well, hey there all of you! ChipetteGirl10 here with Chapter 2 of Night of No End. First, as usual, I speak to the reviewers! :D**

**TheHungerGamesFan11: *Gasp* I would never kill Peeta this early on! He's my favorite! :) There's a hint for all of you, as to who died. **

**The Mockingjays Flames: Yep, expect a lot of cliffhangers in this story. Yes, it was a girl, and one of your guesses is correct! *HINT, HINT***

**XxEmogurlxX: It was a girl, I can tell you that. Since you guessed one specific person, I can't say if right or wrong...sorry! But you're about to find out!**

**Emma (1st Review): Thanks for that, I hoped they were funny! As to Clove or Glimmer on screaming...I can't tell you. That would mean a spoiler alert! As for Foxface having screamed, Foxface is too quick a character to die first. Cato and Clove's crushes, you'll have to wait and see!**

**Emma (2nd Review): Aha, I can't tell you if it was Glimmer or not! You gotta read it, girl!**

**Catolover123: There is a little Clato later on in the story, and I won't kill them off...yet anyway! XD**

**Arianna: Thanks! I have updated, here is your "More more more!"**

**LibraryGeek99: Thanks, and I have updated! In case you'd like to know, the idea stemmed from a writing assignment in class with the same plot, in which a class goes on a field trip to an old abandoned house next to an abandoned amusement park. Oddly enough, I got three requests for people to be the killer O.o**

**CloveDiedForYourSins: Thanks! Here's the more you couldn't wait to read!**

**BUT WAIT! I must stop you again to recap, so we're all caught up on the story so far!**

**RECAP: Peeta and Katniss are in the kitchen at Katniss's house. Peeta is cooking some things and Katniss is packing weapons, as well as checking off her list of things needed. Gale, Madge, and Delly come, and Gale explains the game Clue, as well as murder-mystery movies. The five then decide who else from the other districts would bring what weapons, and how to identify the killer based on marks/evidence left behind on the dead body. Gale insults Peeta, and Peeta hears. We then cut to the mansion, where everyone else already is. Johanna explains Clue and the murder-mystery movies to everyone who didn't hear, because Gloss forgot to inform some people. They make groups, in case they must scatter. Katniss and Peeta talk in the kitchen while the others occupy the living room, and reveal to themselves that they are dating. Later, the group plays a heated game of truth or dare where some secrets are revealed, like Katniss and Peeta dating, Clove and Cato having crushes on some people, and Delly is jealous of some people. People also must kiss people, making a few of the teens/twentysomethings less than pleased. Johanna states after the game she wants pizza, and Peeta is about to go make it when the lights go out and an unidentified someone screams. This is where we stand.**

**Okay, now that you read the incredibly boring recap, here's Chapter 2!**

* * *

Night of No End  
by ChipetteGirl10  
Murder in the Mansion

"Who screamed?" Gale shouts in the dark.

"I can't see! What happened?" Cato asks.

"I don't know; someone find the lights!" Madge shouts.

"We're all in the middle of the room and a light switch is on the wall, Madge!" Delly says.

"Alright, now what do we do?" Peeta asks.

"Figure out what happened! Okay, we need some form of light! Does anyone have anything on them?" Katniss asks.

"Usually by this point in the movies the lights would have come on," Johanna points out. As if on cue, the lights turn on, and everyone pales. Annie is on the floor in a pool of her own blood, a slash mark right on her abdomen.

"Annie!" Finnick cries, falling to his knees. Cato covers his mouth. Clove gasps out loud. Peeta and Katniss grab onto each other. Madge grabs onto Gale, who puts a hand on her shoulder. Delly joins them. Cashmere's jaw drops. Gloss nearly faints at the sight. Foxface's eyes go wide while Johanna stands there, no emotion on her face. Glimmer lets a tear slide down her cheek and Marvel looks crestfallen.

"It has begun. Someone here is a murderer," Johanna says.

"It's a slash mark," Gale whispers. His eyes land on Peeta, who is still holding onto Katniss. Then his eyes move to Johanna, and then Clove, followed by Cato and finally Gloss.

"Okay, nobody flip out, okay? I have a simple solution. Just grab a partner, and go off wherever you want. That way, if you die, we know who killed you," Johanna says. The groups decided have changed from earlier than afternoon. Now, the groups are Peeta and Katniss, Gale and Madge, Delly and Foxface, Finnick and Johanna, Clove and Cato, Cashmere and Gloss, and Glimmer and Marvel.

"Bring your weapon with you, but don't murder anyone else," Johanna says. When she opens the box of weapons, she gasps.

"Guys, our weapons are gone!"

"What?! My bows and arrows! My dad made those before he died!" Katniss exclaims.

"That means the killer has access to them, but we don't. We need to find our weapons. They're probably hidden everywhere. Alright, go now!" Johanna says. Everyone splits off to go find the weapons.

"We need to find the weapons. My bow and arrows are my lifeline. If I don't have them and that murderer comes for me, I'm a goner!" Katniss says to Peeta. Peeta shakes his head.

"We'll find them, and I'll protect you, don't you worry. We just need to find those weapons, and then find Gale and Madge. Neither of them would be the killer, they're too nice for that. We know them too well. Gale and I may not be best friends like you are with him, but we're friends enough. And I just can't picture Madge a murderer," Peeta responds.

"Okay…just…let's not get separated in the process. If we get separated and one of us dies, we'll have no witness," Katniss says.

"Yeah. Also, be careful. In some movies, mansions like this are rigged with traps, and they have secret passages," Peeta adds.

"That's good. That means we can move through the house faster. But it's also bad, because whoever the murderer is can move through the house faster, too," Katniss says. Peeta nods and as they're walking, a few floorboards slide open out of nowhere. Katniss grabs Peeta to get him to stop walking and look down. There's one weapon in there; Peeta's sword.

"My sword," Peeta breathes, picking it up, along with the belt and sheath.

"Now we have a weapon," Katniss says.

"Yeah. I just hope I won't have to use it quite yet," Peeta replies. Katniss nods and then silence fills the room once more. The two walk along, up the grand staircase to the next floor. The halls are dusty, and eerily empty. Their footsteps echo with each step. Katniss hesitantly looks around as they enter another long corridor. Her walk stiffens, and Peeta takes notice of the tension.

"Katniss? You okay?"

"Peeta. I'm a hunter. And you know that. Hunters can sense when something's not right. And something's not."

"Then I should trust you on this, huh?"

"Peeta, get in this room, now," Katniss says, pulling open a door and pushing Peeta in. She steps in herself and closes the door quietly. Both teens press their ears against the door and listen to footsteps as someone walks by. Katniss grabs Peeta's hand as the footsteps get closer and closer to the door. Peeta squeezes her hand. They listen as the footsteps fade.

"Can we leave?" Peeta whispers, free hand reaching for the doorknob. Katniss grabs his wrist.

"No," she whispers back, "whoever it is hasn't left the area yet. If they hear this door open, and your incredibly loud walking, we're both goners if it's the murderer. We'll hide out here for now." Peeta nods, and then his eyes drift to the top of the door.

"Kat, look. There's a peephole. Look and see if you can see anyone nearby," he says. Katniss does as told and sees two figures down the hall, talking.

"Can you see anyone?" Peeta asks.

"Two people. They're talking. I can't tell who they are; they're too far away. We're going to have to wait it out," Katniss responds.

* * *

"I can't believe Annie died first. I always thought Glimmer would be the one to die first," Johanna remarks as she and Finnick walk along.

"And you think the thought of someone dying in place of Annie is supposed to help me cope because…?" Finnick asks.

"I don't know. I'm just talking," Johanna responds. Finnick nods and heaves a sigh.

"I just can't believe Annie is gone."

"Stop groaning about it. People dying is part of life, and you need to move on from it, Finnick," Johanna says.

"So I get no grieving time? Gee, thanks Johanna! Sounds good to me!" Finnick responds sarcastically.

"Finnick! Listen to me, what would Annie do if you died, huh? Sure, maybe she'd mope. Sure, maybe she'd complain. But she'd move on, and she'd try and get her butt out of this house alive, because you would have wanted it!" Johanna shouts at Finnick.

"Jo, keep your voice down," Finnick says. Johanna's eyes narrow.

"Finnick, you need to move on whether you like it or not. Annie needs you to be strong and live, for Pete's sake!"

"Who's Pete?"

"Finnick!" Johanna exclaims in exasperation, "First of all, it's an expression. Second of all, stop talking so loudly. You're going to attract the murderer."

"I attract everyone."

* * *

Cato and Clove walk along in silence. The occasional sound of footsteps nearby was the only thing the two heard for a while, before they faded and they were the only ones left. Cato looks toward his brunette friend with a look of longing. Clove doesn't catch the look as she stares ahead, searching for her knives. She glares at the rooms around her.

"Whoever took my knives is dead meat," she mutters venomously.

Cato grins at her with a sideways glance.

"That makes me think that you're the one doing the killing," he says.

"Stop flirting with me. And I know. But trust me, I'm not. I cut up peoples' faces, not their abdomens. Abdomens are for the unskilled," Clove responds, not bothering to look at the boy beside her as she turns over a vase.

"Ugh, where are my knives?"

"I agree with you on the 'abdomens are for the unskilled' thing. And let's check upstairs for your knives, because this floor is too occupied," Cato says to her.

"Alright. And about the face and abdomen – I'd be surprised if the murderer cuts up someone's face. None of you are as skilled as I am; it's impossible for someone to cut someone on the face…besides me of course," Clove says in reply. Cato nods, and then decides to change the subject.

"Hey, Clove…in truth or dare…you said you had a crush on someone. You wouldn't mind telling…telling _me_ who it is, would you?"

"Well," Clove begins, "that person and I came up in the same car…and he's blonde. He's really hot, and I don't even know if he likes me back." Cato nods happily; that sounded just like him.

"Clove, I like you that way, too. That's who my crush was," Cato says. Clove's mouth falls open.

"You thought I was talking about _you?_ No! I was talking about Gloss!" Clove shouts. Cato looks at her.

"Aha, ha! I knew that. I was kidding…my crush is really…," Cato says, trying not to throw up a bit in his mouth, "…Cashmere." Clove nods.

"Sure, Cato," she says.

"No, really. I have pictures of her in a shrine in my bedroom closet!" Cato says. Truth be told, there was no shrine. To Cashmere, at least. There is, however, a shrine to Clove in his bedroom closet. Cato sighs with stupidity and rejection as they trek through the house to find Clove's knives. They are not successful, however, as they venture down another long corridor. The end of the corridor is cloaked in darkness, and the two are unable to see down the rest of it.

"Should we go down there?" Clove asks. Cato shrugs.

"I don't know. It could end two ways…we could find some stuff…or we could die."

"So it's a matter of life or death is what you're telling me now?"

"Pretty much."

Clove hesitates.

"Let's go."

* * *

"Okay. We found your bow and arrows Gale. Are you happy now?" Madge asks, watching the boy admire them. His name, _G. Hawthorne, _is engraved on the wood of the bow, and the sheath of arrows has the same written on the strap of it.

"Yes. Very. Let's go find some other people. Knowing it's just the two of us frightens me, because we could easily die," Gale responds.

"And just who do you suggest we find?" Madge asks.

"Isn't it obvious? We find Katniss…and see if Mellark is with her. I know Katniss won't kill, but Peeta brought a sword, and he could turn whacko. Especially if he feels people are trying to take Katniss from him. So maybe, after Finnick had pushed Katniss up against the wall and kissed her during truth or dare, something inside of Peeta snapped, and he killed Annie," Gale explains.

"Peeta won't kill, Gale. He's too…Peeta, for that," Madge retorts.

"Whatever you say. I'm keeping distance from him," Gale says. Madge rolls her eyes and the two hear a door quietly shut.

"Did you notice footsteps?" Gale asks her.

"Nope? How 'bout you, Hunter Boy?" Madge asks.

"Nope. We must have been too involved in the conversation," Gale says.

"Alright then, let's go see who that was," Madge decides.

* * *

"The four of us are sticking together. If we travel in a pack like this, we're less likely to get killed, because one of us has to survive to see the murderer," Cashmere decides, placing a firm hand on Glimmer's shoulder before she and Marvel can break away from the living room. Glimmer looks up at her.

"And how do we know you guys aren't the murderers?" she asks.

"Because, Glims, we're cousins. Cousins don't kill cousins," Cashmere responds.

"Or do they?" Marvel asks.

"Hush up, Marvel. You're not a cousin, you don't know anything!" Gloss says to him. Marvel crosses his arms and glares at them.

"Well then, at least now I have an excuse to date Glimmer!"

"Excuse me?" Glimmer asks Marvel, "Who said anything about dating?"

"Never mind," Marvel responds quickly.

"Anyway," Cashmere says, eying Marvel oddly, "Like I said, let's stick together. That way, we can't get killed and we can identify the murderer if he or she should come upon us."

* * *

Half an hour later, all of the groups are back in the living room with the weapons back safely in the box. Finnick has his head in his hands, crying over Annie. Katniss leans against Peeta, silent and sad. Peeta has his arm around her, eyes darting around the room to search for the killer. Cato tries to make it as believable to Clove as possible that he is in love with Cashmere, purposely letting Clove catch him staring at Cashmere. Clove herself is getting annoyed with Cato and the tension. Cashmere has her knees drawn up to her chest, and her arms are wrapped around them. Gloss is sitting by himself, trying to keep his mind off of things by watching TV. Foxface and Delly are talking quietly about the deaths, and who possible suspects are. Johanna is watching everyone in the room. Marvel is sitting on the floor, leaning against the chair Glimmer sits on. Madge leans against Gale. Gale's eyes are going around the room, much like Peeta's. The two boys briefly lock gazes.

"The tension is rising. This is killing me. I'm going to get some soda, does anyone want anything?" Johanna finally breaks the silence. All of the others are silent in response. Johanna shrugs and stalks off to the kitchen, leaving the rest of them sitting there as it gets darker outside.

"Anyone wanna 'fess up to Annie's murder yet?" Gale asks, "How about you, Peeta?"

"And why would you suspect I killed Annie?" Peeta asks curiously.

"Yeah! I was with him the whole time when the lights went out! We were right next to each other when the lights went out, and when they turned back on he was right next to me, and we grabbed onto each other. Gale, Peeta isn't a murderer!" Katniss exclaims. Gale sighs and puts his hands up defensively.

"Alright, alright. I see your point there. I agree, Catnip," he says.

"You better," Katniss says dangerously. Peeta squeezes her shoulder.

"Calm down Katniss. Calm down."

"Alright…"

"Hey, guys, did we move Annie's body?" Cashmere asks suddenly.

"No! Why?" Madge asks fearfully.

"Somebody did," Cashmere says, pointing to the spot on the floor where Annie was previously. There is only blood to mark where she died.

"The murderer did it!" Gloss says, jumping up.

"Alright, calm down guys! Don't get crazy about this. Murderers love to kill when it's already crazy, because it's easier for them to get away. Just keep calm, and sit down," Farrah advises.

"Sure, and then what? A stealthy ninja murderer like the one who took Annie comes out of nowhere and kills one of us?!" Cato exclaims.

"CATO! Can it! Sit down, and shut up!" Clove shouts, slapping him across the face. Foxface groans, and she face-palms. Delly shakes her head. Katniss buries her face in Peeta's shirt. Peeta tightens his grip on her.

"Guys, cool it, just calm the heck down!" Gale says.

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" Cato yells at him.

"Guys, stop it," Cashmere says.

And then the lights go out again. This time quite a few people scream, and there is a sickening thud that follows. Katniss's breath hitches and she latches onto Peeta tightly. In the darkness, Peeta squeezes her closer to him. Gale grabs onto Madge, who in return grabs onto him.

"Someone's dead. I just know it," Marvel says.

"Someone needs to turn on the lights!" Glimmer shouts. Right then, the lights turn on. Cashmere lies on the floor, dead. Her face is mutilated with blood and cuts, and there is a knife plunged into her throat. The knife reads _Clove_ on the handle.

"CASHMERE!" Cato and Gloss shout. Cato rips the knife out and whirls around, glaring at Clove.

"You did this," he growls.

"Me? No! No! I didn't do it!" Clove says, "It's the same person doing it, I just know it! I don't do abdomens, I do faces only!"

"Who's to say there aren't two people killing people?! I bet you're one of them!" Gloss accuses. Clove gasps.

"Gloss, I would never! Somebody took my knife and used it to kill Cashmere! It's probably the same person who killed Annie! This person probably took the weapons and hid them! Now they know they're in the box, and we're all in the same room! They probably killed the lights and took the weapon, and then, all quiet-like, KILLED CASHMERE!" Clove shouts.

"Clove, I believe you. Why would Clove kill Cashmere? Clove, Cashmere, and Glimmer are all best friends. It wouldn't make sense," Katniss says. Gale, Peeta, Madge, and Delly are quick to agree with their friend.

"Katniss is right," Peeta adds.

"Yeah, and so is Clove. That also means that the murderer isn't just using their specialty weapon. The murderer is taking our weapons and using a different one each time to throw us off as to just who it is. That means the murderer could be using Johanna's ax one minute, and Clove's knives the next. Who knows...Katniss's bow and arrows could be next," Gale says.

"Speaking of Johanna…she's the only one not in the room…," Finnick says slowly. All of the eyes turn to the entrance to the room, where Johanna returns with a soda and two bowls, one of popcorn and one of chips.

"Why you all starting at me?" she asks. And then her eyes drift down to a dead Cashmere.

"I see. And do you see this popcorn? And these chips? I had to make them. So where is the time in my time out of the room to get Clove's knives and kill Cashmere?" she reasons with everyone.

"That's pretty darn reasonable," Foxface pipes up.

"Alright. So Johanna seems innocent, Clove seems innocent, and I know all of us from District 12 are innocent," Peeta says.

"How do we know that for sure, Mellark? Any of us could have done it. Anyone can make up a believable story," Marvel snaps.

"That makes it sound like you could be the killer," Peeta snaps back.

"Easy, easy. Calm down guys," Katniss says, putting a hand on Peeta's shoulder.

* * *

One hour then passes, and all of the inhabitants of the mansion are sitting around in the living room once more, the body of Cashmere Preston moved to a closet where they have found the body of what used to be Annie Cresta. Silence overtakes them, and cold air encases the room. There is a heavy mood of fear and tension. Everybody flinches at the sound of a chair squeaking. Once more, it's Johanna breaking the silence. The others relax back into their seats.

"I'll be right back, I'm going to make more popcorn," Johanna says, getting up and leaving. The others sigh and lean back. Cato looks around the room, eyes always lingering on Clove every time they came back around to her. Katniss is still in Peeta's arms, a worried expression never leaving her face. Peeta has his arms around Katniss, also looking around the room. Gale Hawthorne has one arm around Madge Undersee, and his eyes are locked on Peeta's, and the two momentarily start a staring match. Madge rolls her eyes and scoots closer to Gale. Delly and Foxface are engrossed in the TV, ignoring all of the others. Gloss has his arms crossed, a glare on his face, and every so often he glances back at the closet where his dead sister's body lies. Clove is still polishing blood from her knife.

"You know," Gale starts in the midst of the tension, "we could check everything for fingerprints…"

"We don't have the right materials," Foxface interjects, without even looking up from the TV. Gale sighs and slumps back down in his seat.

"We need to figure out who the killer is," Peeta says.

"Well then, Bread Boy, figure it out. Until then, we're stuck here with a murderer. A murderer who's our own friend," Glimmer snaps at him. Peeta glares at her and says nothing more, but instead gets up and grabs his sword, as well as Katniss's bow and arrows.

"Just what do you think you're doing? Are _you_ the murderer?" Gloss asks him curiously, with a harsh edge in his voice. Peeta shakes his head.

"No. But if we all take our weapons, the killer won't have any access to the others' weapons, so we'll figure out who's using what, and we can narrow it down. Right now, we're very aware the killer likes things to stab, hack, slice, and cut. I'm almost positive the first kill was with a sword, and we all know the second one was with Clove's knife," Peeta responds. Gloss nods with interest.

"So who's to say it's not you?" he responds one more time.

"It's not Peeta! Since when has Peeta ever been mean to any of us, especially as far as killing is involved?" Katniss snaps at Gloss as Peeta hands her weapons to her. Gloss says nothing in response. Katniss smirks and begins to load an arrow into her bow. Gloss looks at her uncertainly while Peeta shoots him a look. Gloss puts his hands up and looks at the TV instead.

"I purpose a plan," Peeta says, grabbing the TV remote and shutting it off.

"Hey, we were watching that!" Delly snaps.

"Guys, I purpose a plan for a brave few of us," Peeta says again.

"What's this about?" Johanna asks, returning with a fresh bowl of popcorn.

"Stop interrupting me. Look, I have an idea. It's an idea for a brave few of us, if you'd be willing to be one of them. I'm looking for a team…just a few of us. We're going to go through the house alone and search out the killer. I advise you to bring a weapon, should you choose to accept this mission. It's dangerous. You cannot bring a partner…bringing a partner would scare off whoever the murderer might be…if we go alone, and we happen to get away, we can catch them," Peeta explains.

"I'll go," Katniss volunteers.

"Are you sure?" Peeta asks her. Katniss nods.

"I can't let anyone else die."

"I'll go too," Gale says.

"Gale...come back alive," Madge says. Gale nods and kisses the top of Madge's forehead.

"I'll go too," Clove says.

"And I guess I'll go," Johanna says, picking up her ax.

"Don't forget me. I need to avenge Annie," Finnick adds, picking up his trident.

"I'll go too…I need to get revenge for whoever killed Cashmere," Cato says, grabbing his sword

"Then that's it. There's our squad. If we don't find the murderer in half an hour, return to the living room, okay?" Peeta says. The others agree, and then break off, leaving Gloss, Glimmer, Marvel, Foxface, Delly, and Madge all alone in the living room.

* * *

The only thing on Peeta's mind is Katniss. As he walks down the empty, dark hallways of the third floor, not yet explored, he only thinks of how he should have followed her. Then again, he muses, Katniss could have heard him, being the hunter she is, and shot him down then and there with one of her arrows. So now he walks through the house alone, fully aware of his surroundings, trying to make his footsteps and breathing quiet, so not to attract the murderer, but to hear him or her, should they come after him.

_This would be the point in the horror movies where they cut to the point of view of a person in the shadows, looking at me, the character, as I walk down the hallway. The audience members would be screaming at me to run, to prepare, to swing my sword out right now. But I look and see nothing. And the audience is on their feet, biting their nails, not even looking, screaming at me, "RUN, THE KILLER IS RIGHT THERE, RUN PEETA!" And I wouldn't look. And the audience would be frustrated, and that is when the killer jumps out and tackles me, putting me in a death hold, and killing me with their weapon, leaving me there for the others to find. _

The mere thought of it makes Peeta's heart rate quicken as he pauses in his movement. His head whips from side to side, and he rotates fully to observe the room. Nothing seems out of the ordinary…just a quiet, dusty hallway. He doesn't let his guard down, however, as he draws his sword from his sheath and keeps it in the grip of his hand.

If someone was to attack him, he wanted to be ready.

* * *

Katniss stalks through the corridor on the fourth floor the same way she would in the forests of District 12. Her ears are tuned into even the tiniest of sounds. Her motions are fluid, and her feet are quiet as she darts about. Her bow is loaded with a fresh arrow, and she waits for the adrenaline-pumping moment to happen out of nowhere, when she yanks back the string and lets the arrow fly into the killer. She waits so patiently, yet so angrily. Two of her friends were dead because of this person…this person who now used to be another of her friends. The thought sickens her.

_I must know which of you has caused this much devastation, and plans on creating more. Who are you, that we call…"friend"? Who are you, that we drove these thoughts of murdering everyone for the sake of a good, suspenseful story, into your head? Who are you, killing who you called your friends at the beginning of tonight, that are now the prey you will kill, and kill, until there are no more left? I do not know who you are, but I am sure that you will regret trying to kill me. You monster, just come at me. You can't survive an Everdeen…not even Prim._

And then she hears it. It is quick, and it is quiet. But she hears it. It is the sound of footsteps running, and a blur out of the corner of Katniss's eye runs into the shadows. Katniss holds her bow up higher, for all to see in it's wooden glory. She knows somewhere the killer is looking for her, and find her they will not. And surely, should they…they won't live to see another victim.

"Just come at me," Katniss whispers to herself with a coy smirk, "I'll try to make it quick."

* * *

The lights go out for the third time, and there is a scream from somewhere in the house. Due to half of the party being scattered, there is frantic chaos everywhere. Most are set off running as another loud thud sounds. And it is finally figured out. It is from the downstairs floor. In the darkness, Katniss's hunter vision kicks in, and she relies on her ears and sense of touch to make her way to the third floor, to the second, and to the first. There is mass chaos on the first floor as more people race down the stairs, and the ones who had stayed back from the mission are frantic.

"Somebody's dead! Someone's dead!" Madge cries loudly. The others follow the sound of her voice, and a pair of strong arms wraps around her in comfort. Gale Hawthorne.

"Madge…Madge, it's okay. I'm alive. I'm here, Madge!" Gale tries to soothe her as the lights come on. On the floor, dead, is the next victim, with rope tied too tightly around their neck.

* * *

**Dead so far (in order): Annie Cresta, Cashmere Preston, (unknown)**

**Another cliffhanger!**

**Well, I've been working on this one for a while, and I'm pretty pleased on how it came out.**

**Who do you think died next?**

**Who do you think the murderer is?**

**Who do you want to see die, after this unknown death is revealed?**

**See you in the next chapter guys!**


	3. Secrets and Accusations

**Hey guys, I'm back with Chapter 3! Thanks for all of the reviews you guys gave me, and now I shall take the time to respond to them, as always!**

**TheHungerGamesFan11: Oh, I would never do such a thing to such important characters so soon!**

**Catolover123: Sorry, there isn't much Clato in this chapter, but there will be probably in the next chapter.**

**LuckyCLOVEr: No, not yet. She's important to this story, killing her off so soon is unheard of!**

**LibraryGeek99: Thanks, and uh...sorry about your nightmares. XD Yes, I've known since chapter 1 who the killer is. That's a good question. There are clues in the story, so pay attention to everything everyone says, there could be a hint anywhere.**

**The Mockingjays Flames: Good guesses on the murderer, and good guesses on who died. And sorry, cliffhangers are vital! :D Here's the update!**

**KarmaKnives: Thank you! I'm glad your enjoying it! And yes, reading it in silence is NOT a good idea. This story has started to weave into my dreams...**

**Emma: LOL. Thanks, and that sounded reasonable...and maybe a bit mean. XD**

**LA Collins: Good guesses about the murderer! Thanks for reviewing! **

**Arianna: I know, but dying is part of it. *Cue music* IT'S THE CIRCLE OF LIFE! Yes, it is sad, and I am addicted to it, too!**

**Okay, since there is too much to recap, let's just tell you what happened last.**

**The lights go out, someone screams, Annie and Cashmere are already dead.**

**Read on!**

* * *

Night of No End  
by ChipetteGirl10  
Secrets and Accusations

"Gloss," Clove speaks quietly, falling to her knees much like Finnick did when they had discovered Annie in a pool of her own blood. Cato puts a hand on her shoulder while Madge clings onto Gale. Johanna puts a hand over her mouth. Finnick looks away. Foxface and Delly both cannot help but stare down at the rope around Gloss's neck. Tears sting at Glimmer's eyes while Marvel's jaw drops. Peeta wraps his arms around Katniss, who just about collapses into them.

"The third death of the night. Who would do such a thing?" Cato asks, tears threatening to fall out of his own eyes. Nobody responds in the sickening silence. All there is for noise is the sound of breathing, and crying. Johanna walks away from the group and uneasily sits down in a recliner, leaning forward with her head in her hands in the same position Finnick had been in earlier. She mutters to herself, trying to make sense of everything that had gone down thus far.

"Johanna?" Finnick asks tentatively, touching her shoulder.

"There's got to be some pattern here, some obvious series of clues as to figuring out who's doing such a thing, murdering everyone like this. First Annie went…and then Cashmere followed. Gloss was next. Is anyone getting a pattern out of this? I'm not," Johanna responds, not talking to anyone in particular.

"I'm not seeing anything…," Gale mutters.

"For once, I can't even make sense of it," Foxface says.

Nobody says anything after Foxface says that. They know already, many more of them are scheduled for death. Nobody can figure out the clues as to who the murderer is. Many minds are clouded with fear, their lives flashing before their eyes at any given moment.

"So, now what do we do?" Peeta asks quietly. Nobody answers Peeta's question, either. He sighs, and takes a seat on the couch. He then zones out, trying to make sense of everything in the way Johanna tried to. Everyone watches him questioningly. Katniss walks over and takes a seat next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Peeta, it's alright."

"I have an answer to Bread Boy's question. It's simple. We start accusing people. So, I suspect it was Delly who killed Annie, Cashmere, and Gloss!" Gale says, whirling around and pointing a finger toward Delly.

"And just why do you suspect all of your friends from back home? First Peeta, now me?" Delly asks him.

"Peeta likes his sword. Peeta can lie his way out of anything. Peeta can charm a crowd. And you, you're sneaky. You've been hanging around Farrah for a while now. And you're jealous of one or more of us. You two have perfect reasons to be killers. So why wouldn't you be?" Gale snaps back, grabbing his bow and arrows and loading up an arrow. Katniss's eyes widen.

"Gale, stop! Don't kill anyone! You don't know who it is or not!" she shouts at him.

"Katniss! How do I know _you're_ not the murderer? You can chuck a knife pretty darn far and pretty darn accurately. You could've used your boyfriend's sword to cut Annie's abdomen! And then you could've stolen Clove's knife in the dark and slashed up Cashmere's face, and plunged the knife into her neck! And then, you could've taken Delly's rope and tied it around Gloss to choke him to death!" Gale shouts at her, pushing her back onto the couch.

"Well what about you Mister Accusations?" Peeta snaps at him.

"Me?" Gale retorts, "Please, Mellark!"

"You could be killing everyone! You hate me, and no matter how much you say we're friends, everyone knows it! So naturally, you took my sword, and you slashed up Annie. Then, you took Clove's knives, thinking they were mine, and killed Cashmere! After that, you could've killed Gloss with Madge's rope to make it look like I did it, out of revenge for Cashmere purposing Gloss dance in the rain with Katniss, and Gloss doing it! Then, you go off accusing people to cover up!" Peeta yells at him.

"Hey, hey, HEY! Break it UP, you two!" Johanna shouts at them.

"Arrest Peeta Mellark this instant!" Gale shouts wildly.

"STOP IT!" Foxface demands, silencing the entire room, "Both of you need to stop it right now. Listen to me, do the rest of us want to make it out alive? Yes, we do. Do the rest of us want to hear you guys arguing based on flimsy evidence? No, we don't. So for the life of me and the rest of us, shut your mouths, and stop it!"

"How do we know you're not the murderer?" Gale shouts at her.

"Just why would I be the murderer?" Foxface asks.

"Because, you're the sly one, you're the one who gets away all of the time!" Gale shouts at her.

"You're all crazy! I'm out of here! Talk to me when you all become normal again!" Katniss shouts, getting up, grabbing her bow and arrows, and leaving the room. Everyone watches her go, even Peeta, who simply sits down on the chair in the room. They watch her dark braid disappear up the stairs, and Katniss Everdeen is gone. For a few minutes, nobody says anything. Everyone stares at one another, waiting for someone to make a move. And no one does.

* * *

_This is despicable. Revolting. Horrendous. Gale is accusing like crazy. Annie, Cashmere, and Gloss are dead. Everyone is a suspect, even myself. Even Peeta. We all know Peeta doesn't kill. He's not that kind of person. But when things get this crazy, I suppose people are blind to certain things, huh? When things get this crazy, nobody can think straight. But Peeta…he doesn't kill. It's not in his nature. He only has good intentions. At least, as far as I know. Is there a side to Peeta I don't know? Could Peeta be…keeping things from me? No, no Katniss. Peeta is open to you. You know everything about him. He can lift two hundred-pound bags of flour at once. He is skilled with a sword, and knives. He makes bread. He does not pick unnecessary fights. He is my blonde boyfriend, Peeta. He is a peacemaker…he does not make war. He will only kill in self-defense. He is not a murderer. He does not kill in cold blood._

Katniss sighs and slides down against a wall, putting her head in her hands as she thinks about Peeta. Peeta, the boy who gave her bread when they were eleven and her family was starving. Peeta, who still takes regular beatings from his witch of a mother for going to see her, a so-called "Seam rat." Peeta, who fell in love with her at only five years old. Peeta, who she would make sure saw the morning light.

"You're going to live to see the morning light, Peeta. I'll make sure of it…even if it means dying myself. Don't worry, Gale and Madge will make it through too. They can supply my family with food when I'm gone," Katniss talks to herself. A deranged smile plays on her lips as she gets up from the ground, picking her bow back up and walking back toward the stairwell, when she catches movement from the corner of her eye. Katniss whirls around, holding up her bow.

_Déjà vu, much?_

A cold wind chills Katniss, and she looks all around for the source. There are no vents around, nor are there any people. Katniss stops moving as she waits for something else to come upon her. She only hears a distorted voice. She can't tell who it is, but the message is clear.

_"Hello, Katniss, dear."_

And she screams.

* * *

The scream reverberates through the whole house. Peeta jumps to his feet in the living room as soon as he hears it. He grabs his sword and darts up the stairs, listening for Katniss. He can hear sobbing, whimpering from somewhere. He runs down the hallway a bit and can see a figure, hunched over in the corner, shaking.

"Katniss," he calls.

"Don't hurt me! I'll kill you!" Katniss yells at him.

"Katniss, it's me, Peeta," Peeta says, dropping the sword down to his side and sitting down next to her. Katniss moves away from him, tears streaming down her face. Peeta pulls her into a hug and doesn't let go, despite how much Katniss struggles. He kisses her head and strokes her back as she continues to cry.

"Katniss, what happened? Who did this to you?"

"I-I was here a-and I saw something m-move from the c-corner of my eye. A-And then…and then there was this really cold wind. I waited for something else to happen and there was this w-weird, distorted voice. I-It said 'Hello, Katniss, dear' a-and then it f-felt like a cold pair of hands were squeezing my n-neck, a-and I couldn't breathe!" Katniss says.

"Oh, Katniss," Peeta whispers, "It's alright…I'm here now, no one can hurt you now."

"Peeta…don't let it hurt me…stay with me…"

"I'll stay with you for the rest of the night. I promise I won't leave your side…"

* * *

Hours later, most of the party is asleep. Gale has his arms wrapped around Madge as the two of them snore away. Clove sleeps with three knives, one in each hand. The third is on a belt. Glimmer has bouts of rest, stirring every hour on the hour in some sort of pattern. Marvel, Foxface, and Finnick are out like lights. Johanna is still awake, eating popcorn and watching the TV. Cato is in a haze, zoning in and out of reality. Delly only has had one hour of sleep, the rest of the time being spent eating chips. Peeta is still awake; Katniss sleeps in his arms, waking up every so often because of another nightmare of the horrific night they'd only just started.

"So," Johanna says quietly to the others awake with her, "which one of us is gonna outlast the others, and take the time to kill off a few of us?"

"We all know I'm not. In fact, if I fall asleep, I'd be surprised if I wake up the next morning," Peeta responds.

"Eh, Baker Boy, you might be able to kill. I better keep an eye on you, shady boy," Cato says to him.

"Please, Cato. Do I really murder people?" Peeta asks.

"I dunno, ask the bodies of Annie, Cash, and Gloss," Cato shoots.

Peeta rolls his eyes, "I barely know them, so what would provoke me?"

"They were in on the kissing with you and Katniss during truth or dare," Cato responds.

"So? I wouldn't kill over that! Besides, I did it to some people too!" Peeta says to him.

"Hey, hey, break it up you two," Johanna says to them.

"Yeah. Guys, look. The murderer is probably asleep. So why don't we just get some rest now? I'm pretty tired of watching TV anyway," Delly says. The others slowly agree, and soon enough all of the others awake are sleeping as well.

* * *

Peeta is restless. Nightmarish images of Katniss, dead on the ground in her own blood, flicker through his vision as he tries to get some sleep before the real horrors of the night begin.

_"Peeta! Peeta, help!"_

_ "Katniss, I'm coming!"_

_ Peeta draws his sword from his sheath and runs up the stairs, listening for the sound of Katniss's voice. There are shrieks, sobs, and the sound of fists flying. There is one incredibly loud cry of pain, and the stab of a sword can be heard from down the hall. A door is heard slamming. Peeta runs down the corridor and throws open a door with the handle coated in blood. There on the bed is Katniss, barely breathing, blood everywhere. Her eyes are fluttering rapidly, and the blood is beginning to leak onto the floor. Peeta gasps in horror at the sight of his one true love like this, nearly dead at the hands of someone. He tosses his sword aside and grasps her hand. _

_ "Katniss! Don't die on me now! Katniss, please don't die on me!" he begs her, though he knows his attempts are futile. Katniss is crying now._

_ "Peeta…take care of Prim, a-and my mom. Be a good friend to Gale, no matter how much you two drive each other crazy. He does care about you, Peeta. Make sure my family, a-and his family have enough to eat. And watch o-over Madge, and Delly too…"_

_ "Katniss, who did this to you?" Peeta demands._

_ "I love you Peeta," Katniss whispers, and just like that, there is no more breathing. Peeta sinks to his knees, still holding on to Katniss's lifeless hand as she lies there, still. Her face turns a shade of indigo. It is a faint tint, but noticeable. There is no more Katniss Everdeen. There is no more Hunter Girl. There is no more of his other half…there is no more of the girl Peeta wanted to be his wife in coming years. Peeta feels himself start to cry. He buries his face in her blood-soaked shirt._

_ "I'll find out who did this to you, Katniss! I'll find them and stop them before they get me!"And then he hears the door creak open. He slowly turns, and there is the killer, ready to strike Peeta at any given moment._

Peeta sits up, drenched in sweat to see he was the only one still asleep by this point. Three hours have passed since his conversation with Johanna, Delly, and Cato. Katniss looks at him.

"Peeta…you're awake," she says.

"What happened? Why is everyone else up?" Peeta asks.

"Peeta…you were crying…and you were sweating…and you kept saying my name. And not only that, two more people are dead tonight," Katniss responds quietly, gesturing toward the bodies of Finnick O'Dair, with an arrow through his neck, and Glimmer, with a cut straight into her chest. Peeta gasps and covers his mouth. Katniss holds onto him as he looks at the two of them, now dead, when so full of life at the beginning of the party.

"Oh my gosh," Peeta mutters.

"Yeah. That brings the total down to ten of us still alive," Katniss says to him. Peeta pales at that.

"That means nine of us are innocent…while one of us here is lying right to our faces." Katniss sighs.

"I know."

_What do you want with us, heartless killer? Have we filled your head with so many demented things, that you did the exact opposite of what you are not supposed to? Did you take our warnings as challenges? I don't know who you are. I don't know if you are Cato, or Delly, or Johanna. Perhaps you are Gale, or Madge. Maybe you are Marvel. Are you Foxface, possibly? Could you maybe be Clove? Are you me? Are you…Katniss? Why have you come upon us like this, killing us all mercilessly? Do you hate us? Have you been faking our friendship just to kill us all off by the end of the day, making sure we don't live to see the light? I don't know who you are. But I will find out. I will put an end to you, before you put an end to me. You do not like me, I know now. Maybe I like you, though. Maybe I don't. Maybe you're a good friend. Maybe you are my girlfriend. Maybe we pretend to hate each other, but actually care. Maybe you are me. _

"Peeta, are you alright? You seem distant," Katniss asks Peeta, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm thinking," Peeta responds dismally.

_My name is Peeta Mellark. I am seventeen years old. I was born on January 21__st__. I live in District 12. I am a junior in high school, going to be a senior after this summer. My girlfriend is Katniss Everdeen. We and our fifteen friends went to a mansion party. Annie, Cashmere, Gloss, Finnick, and Glimmer have all been killed. The murderer is one of ten of us. The murderer could be Cato, Delly, Johanna, Gale, Madge, Foxface, Clove, Marvel, Katniss, or me. I am not a murderer. Katniss is not a murderer. It must be somebody other than us. My time seems to be running short. I do not know if I will live to see morning._

"Is he still zoned?" Johanna asks. Katniss nods toward her. Peeta snaps from his thoughts, looking around the room at everyone. His look is terrified, and he moves to the farthest corner of the couch, holding a pillow out in front of him for some form of self-defense. Katniss and Gale exchange a look as the blonde boy begins to snap at them all.

"One of you is lying to us. One of you is killing everyone for the sheer joy of it. Nobody has a motive against everyone. One of you just wants a good show! One of you has us totally at your mercy, and doing something to tick you off can easily seal our deaths! One of you is crazy in the head! One of you wants to send a spear through my heart, a knife through Madge's head, and Johanna's head falling to the ground! You're not going to get that satisfaction!" Peeta cries out.

"Peeta, calm down!" Katniss tries to soothe him.

"He's right. One of us has to be lying," Cato says.

"It isn't me, I'll tell you that. Last time I tried to take Katniss's bow and arrows, I got a lecture for two hours about it. She's obsessed with her bow and arrows," Clove says.

"I see, I see," Foxface says.

"Shut up!" Peeta cries, covering his ears.

"Well, Mellark has officially lost it," Gale says.

"Guys, don't you see? Peeta's probably traumatized, and he's not even the one who almost got choked to death by someone or something unknown. His nightmare must've been bad, for him to be like this," Katniss says.

"I told you not to get involved with a merchant; that it would only lead to bad things," Gale says.

"Says the guy dating Madge Undersee!" Katniss snaps back at him. Delly smirks at Gale, who goes three shades of red before saying nothing else. Katniss sighs and rubs Peeta's back as the ten of them sit in the room in silence. Clove looks around the room, eying everyone suspiciously. Johanna rolls her eyes at her.

"Looking at us like we have three heads isn't gonna solve everything, Stabby," she says, calling Clove by her nickname.

* * *

_Fear. It's like a knife, or an arrow, or whatever other weapon you choose. It drives itself into the hearts of so many. That's just what I feel now. I feel myself slowly dying from my happy state, withering away into nothing but another fearful one, on the run. It's dark. A storm is raging outside, the lights went out again, and someone is trying to kill us. I don't know where any of the others are. We all scattered as best we could as soon as the lights went out – permanently, too. The storm knocked out the power, and it probably won't be on until morning. I know someone is out for my blood. I don't know who it is. Whoever I run into could be ready to kill me. The one thing I do know is that I'm somewhere on the fifth floor with my bow and arrows. Other than that, everything is a mystery. _

Katniss turns another corner in the dark, feeling her way around. She stumbles abruptly, and falls onto the floor with a thud. Irritated, she feels around on the floor for the source of whatever caused her to lose her footing. And there, she feels it. It is a rotting, peeled-back floorboard, waiting to give way at any moment. It is like the other floorboard she and Peeta ran into, the one where they found Peeta's sword. In this floorboard, she can feel paper. It's damp paper, with something sticky and heavy, with a strong scent on it.

_Blood._

She can't read it when there is no light like this. She needs light. She needs a flashlight, or a lantern. Even a candle will do. Maybe, miraculously, for the power to be back on? But no, there is no light for her. She stuffs the paper into her sweatshirt pocket and treks along through the house, hoping to find someone, specifically Peeta.

"Katniss?"

It's him. Katniss turns around to see a blinding light in front of her. It's Peeta, aiming one of two flashlights at her. Just what she had been hoping for. He walks up to her, embracing her tightly. Katniss returns the hug, and Peeta hands her a flashlight. She flicks it on.

"Have you found anything interesting…maybe a body?" Peeta asks jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.

"I found a paper…it smelled and felt like it had blood on it," Katniss responds. She takes it out of her pocket and shines her flashlight over it.

_Death Order:_

_1. Crazy_

_2. Older Glitter Girl_

_3. Older Glitter Girl's Twin_

_4. Sexy Boy_

_5. Younger Glitter Girl_

_6. Single District 12_

_7. Spearhead_

_8. Cunni_

"The rest of the paper gets cut off at number eight, but I'm almost certain it says 'Cunning' on it," Katniss says. Peeta furrows his eyebrows.

"This is the exact order. The killer is using a list to kill people off. Crazy is Annie, Older Glitter Girl is Cashmere, Older Glitter Girl's Twin is Gloss, Sexy Boy is Finnick, and Younger Glitter Girl is Glimmer. Single District 12 must be Delly, since she's not dating anyone, Spearhead is probably Marvel, and Cunning would be Farrah. This means that the murderer could be Cato, Clove, Johanna, Madge, Gale, or one of us. But this isn't my handwriting, and it isn't yours. I don't know the handwriting of the others," he explains.

"That means we need to find Delly," Katniss says.

And then there is a shriek.

* * *

**Deaths in order: Annie, Cashmere, Gloss, Finnick, Glimmer, (probably Delly)**

**Aha, we all know what's coming now! Okay, so if it isn't obvious already, the murderer is not Marvel, Delly, or Farrah. But now we need to figure out who the murderer is, out of the ones left off of the torn list. Your options are:**

**Cato**

**Clove**

**Johanna**

**Madge**

**Gale**

**Katniss**

**Peeta**

**I hope to see some good guesses from this! I'll see you guys in the next chapter! CG10 out!**


	4. Confrontations

**You guys are in for an intense chapter, if I do say so myself. But first, as usual, we must do what we always do: words to my awesome reviewers.**

**TheHungerGamesFan11: Good guess, but since you said only one name, I can't tell you if it's right or wrong. Sorry! But thanks for reviewing it, and here's the next chapter!**

**CloveandNiall: I can't tell you if it's Gale or not, but I say, he does have big involvement in this chapter. And about your question how this came to me, I had a writing assignment for class. So I took all of the kids in my class (a number only slightly higher than what they started with in this fic) and placed us in a mansion near an abandoned amusement park. First of all, our teacher/host gets murdered, and then slowly some of us start getting killed off until only about six or seven of us remained, not including the murderer. We then figure out who the murderer is. I can't believe it, but quite a few people requested being the murderer.  
**

**KarmaKnives: Good guess, but since it's a single person, I can't say! Sorry! Thanks for reviewing, and here's the much-anticipated chapter!**

**plaidprincess3000: I know I make it seem so darn obvious...sorry 'bout that! Anyway, good guess, but since it's a single person, I can't tell you! Sorry 'bout that, too! Here's the next chapter!**

**The Mockingjays Flames: Good views on how you're whittling down your murderer guesses! Those are very good guesses, and one of them plays a big part in this chapter!**

**drea29: Nah, I can tell you it's definitely one of them. ;)**

**Ivy Blackwell: Hmmm...I forgot the warning label. I'll do that now. WARNING: SassySunshine is not responsible for any nightmares/panic attacks/heart attacks/inabilities to sleep/etc. that may occur in reading her stories. Read at your own risk. I should've included that in the beginning, huh? Oh well, live and learn. Thank you, and those are good guesses for the murderer! I can't tell you who it is but you're doing great at guessing so far... Here's that update, sorry for the longer wait!**

**CloveDiedForYourSins: ...You have a very good imagination, I must say. No, it's definitely one of the characters in the mansion. President Snow doesn't like to bother with teens, really. Too hormone-crazed, in his opinion. Thanks for reviewing and here's the next chapter.**

**Guest1: Nah, I have a kid brother who reads some stuff. If it comes across as inappropriate I may get in big trouble with my mom. But that was a good idea and I nearly did that with Marvel! I put a spin on it, you'll see. Marvel names a show that's in my list of shows I like on my profile, with a name to make it seem more Panem-like. Thank you, and here's that chapter!**

**Loyal2Artemis: Sorry, I can't tell you! Sorry if the story is scary, but that's what happens! Oh well. **

**Arianna: Thank you! Here's the next chapter!**

**HogwartsDreamer113: I'm glad you like stories like this, because they're my favorite kind to write! Good suspects and good takes on why they're your suspects. You're very good at guessing, and I can't quite tell you if they're right or wrong! Sorry 'bout that. And I change a lot of things, too. **

**vampirepanda12: Okay, I'll answer that one question at a time. Thresh seemed to be the quiet type and not the party kind of guy. Rue, on the other hand, isn't a teen or twenty-something, and innocent, so you can imagine that maybe she's with Prim and Rory or something. As for Brutus and Enobaria, they aren't teens or twenty-somethings either, but in fact they are thirty-something and forty-something and would probably ruin a teen and twenty-something party. Delly's jealousy will be found out in later chapters. I didn't intentionally do the D4, D1, D1, D4, D1 pattern. I guess that just sort of came about by accident. As for Finnick's nickname "Sexy Boy" on the list, it could be either a boy or a girl. A girl, because, well, Finnick is a sexy guy any girl could date, and a boy to throw people off, and because Finnick is commonly known as sexy. As for handwriting, truth be told it could quite possibly be none of theirs, and they could be using their weak hand. The nicknames on the list is just to make it even more sick and twisted to kill them like that, and writing real names is too mainstream. It's okay about your rambling, I do it all of the time. Thanks for reviewing and here's the update!**

**Jk2: Thank you! Here's the next chapter!**

**icecream365: Good guess, and thanks for reviewing! Here's the next chapter!**

**Guest2: Thank you! Here's the next chapter!**

**Alright, I'll skip the recap since a lot happened. I'll just give you the death order.**

******Deaths in order: Annie, Cashmere, Gloss, Finnick, Glimmer, (Probably Delly)**

* * *

Night of No End  
by SassySunshine  
Confrontations

_It's like ice water has been dumped into my veins, replacing the warm blood I once possessed. That sickening shriek can only mean Delly is as good as dead now. Who is it that's killing her now, chopping off her head, or stabbing her in the heart? It doesn't matter now, all it matters is that I get to her in time. You have a flashlight, Peeta is with you. You are safe, Katniss. You must make sure Delly is safe, and all will go on as normal. I hate this so much. Whoever started this nightmare better be caught, and a nice arrow through the heart could end it for all of us survivors. I could be the one to shoot it. Gale hasn't had any of the emotional distress both Peeta and I have had. Therefore, I will be shooting the arrow. It can sail into the murderer's head. Yes. That sounds just about right. And then the rest of us go home, to our families, and hole up until we're all emotionally stable again. Perfect, is it not?_

Katniss rolls her eyes at her own demented thinking and continues running down the hallways, Peeta by her side as they each call Delly Cartwright's name. They can hear faint moaning coming from somewhere, and a few delicate strains of Delly's dying voice resound from off of the walls. Katniss turns a corner to see Delly, barely breathing, blood everywhere, a slash on her chest, one on her abdomen, and two good cuts on both thighs.

"Delly…," Katniss whispers, stumbling backwards into Peeta's arms at the sight. Delly weakly smiles and she says nothing. Peeta is aware that Delly barely is breathing. And then Delly presses her three middle fingers on her left hand to her lips, holding it out to the two of them. And then the life is gone out of her. Delly Cartwright is now dead.

"Oh no," a voice says.

Johanna walks up to Katniss and Peeta and drops her axe to her side to get a look at Delly, mangled and bloody to no end. She shakes her head sorrowfully. Katniss starts to cry, while Peeta holds on to her tightly.

"What a shame," Johanna says.

"She was one of us. She was from Twelve, just like us," Peeta whispers.

* * *

One more hour passes, so far, nobody else has died. Katniss hasn't spoken since Delly was killed off, and now she refuses to even sit near anyone. She rests in the corner, knees drawn up to her chest. Peeta looks at her longingly. Marvel fingers his spear as he looks around the room, trying to find suspects for the killer. Foxface sits alone, her face buried in her hands as she sobs over Delly. Madge sits in a corner, also crying. Johanna brings out a cooler full of sodas and more chips to keep her mind off of things. Clove tries to get some more sleep, a knife clutched in her hand. Cato tries to watch the TV, but is continually getting distracted by the tension. Gale looks around the room for suspects, just as Marvel is.

"So, who do you suspect is going to die next?" he asks everyone in the room. Peeta looks to Katniss in remembrance.

"The list!" Katniss shouts, the first thing she's said since her blonde friend's death.

"What?" Johanna asks in curiosity.

"Peeta and I…we found a list with all of the party guests in order, but it got cut off at number eight. Everyone has a nickname. Delly's was _Single District 12,_ since she's the only one of us District Twelve kids not in a relationship. The next name on the list is _Spearhead, _which Peeta and I suspect to be Marvel," Katniss explains.

"What?! But I like the district I'm in! I am NOT going on District Swap!" Marvel shouts.

"Marvel! It's a death list! This means you're next to die!" Katniss shouts at him. Marvel drops his spear in shock.

"I'm next to _DIE?! _ And the murderer made a _LIST?! _ Alright, which one of you sickos made a freakin' list?!" Marvel screeches. Cato puts a hand on Marvel's shoulder.

"Whoa, dude. Calm down, Marvel," he says.

"Someone better 'fess up, because Gale looks like he's about to start going accuse-crazy again," Johanna says. Everyone that's awake looks at Gale, whose fingers are twitching, and he is muttering to himself. He looks up at the mention of his name with a wild look in his eyes. It is the eyes of a madman, a lunatic.

"It was Mellark. I just know it! That boy is always suspicious! I bet he's getting close to Katniss so he can get her trust! He lies all the time! I bet Katniss will be his next victim, and showing everyone the list was a huge mistake! Now we don't know who's dying next! It's all Peeta Mellark's fault! HE'S THE MURDERER!" Gale screams at everyone. He lunges for Peeta, and both boys are suddenly wrestling on the floor.

"Peeta!" Katniss shouts.

Peeta is slammed against the wall by Gale. Madge grabs onto Gale while Katniss kneels down in front of Peeta. Gale thrashes about.

"Gale, what's gotten into you?!" Madge cries, wrestling him to the floor. She straddles him and forces his hands behind his back. Katniss helps Peeta up and they both look around the room.

"Guys," Katniss says uneasily, looking at the can of soda next to Gale's side of the couch. There is blue ground dust next to it.

"I think someone put something in Gale's drink."

Foxface walks over and nods.

"Yep. This is some sort of poison that doesn't kill. It drives people crazy and has the tiniest bit of tracker-jacker venom," she says.

"That explains it. But who would drive Gale mad?" Cato pipes up.

"I don't know, but whoever it is sure wants to seem innocent," Marvel says.

"What if…what if it is Peeta?" Madge mutters, looking toward the blonde boy.

"Madge! You've got to believe me, I'm innocent!" Peeta says.

"No he's not! He's a liar!" Gale shouts.

"Gale, down!" Madge snaps, slapping Gale.

"Guys, stop it!" Clove screams, jumping up from her sleeping position.

"Clove, just how long were you awake?" Johanna questions.

"Since Gale started accusing Peeta, and then he tackled him," Clove answers.

"Gale, stop it! Shut up Gale!" Madge yelps, drawing all attention to her.

"It's Mellark! Let me at him! Let me sic him!" Gale yells.

"No! No! Gale, stop fighting me! This is not you!" Madge yells at him, hitting him on the back of the head repeatedly. Gale thrashes about and finally manages to get Madge knocked off of him. She falls to the floor in shock as Gale lunges for Peeta. Katniss jumps in the way at the last minute and falls onto her back, Gale on top of her. Madge stands up and covers her mouth. Peeta grimaces at the thud. Gale glares at Katniss.

"Hey, Everdeen, gonna ever realize your boyfriend is gonna kill ya?" Gale snarls.

"Gale, stop it!" Katniss shouts, slapping him across the face. Gale shakes his head at her with a malicious grin and turns toward Peeta. He uses Katniss as a launch pad and tackles Peeta to the floor once more. The Seam boy puts the merchant boy in a choke-hold. Peeta struggles to get air to his lungs. Johanna yanks Gale off of Peeta and shoves him into one of the chairs. Peeta falls against the wood one more time before falling out of consciousness. Katniss kneels down beside him.

"Oh, Peeta…he doesn't mean it."

"I mean it alright! He's guilty!" Gale screeches as Johanna ties him to the chair.

"It's for caution," she says with a shrug.

"Let me go! Mellark is gonna kill us all!"

"Gale, he's unconscious! And you did it to him, so SHUT UP!" Katniss shouts at him.

"HE'S GONNA KILL US ALL!" Gale screams.

* * *

Half an hour more passes. Peeta has woken up in that time. Gale still has not calmed down and is still tied to the chair to be restrained. Peeta sits on the chair with Katniss furthest away from the raging Gale.

"You guys have to believe me! I'm innocent!" Peeta pleads.

"I dunno, Marvel had a point. Maybe you're trying to seem innocent by putting that poison into Gale's drink, so he would turn against you and make you seem like the innocent one," Cato says to Peeta.

"B-But…what? I would never! I didn't even know what that poison was! None of us did until…until _Farrah_ identified it," Peeta says, looking over at the red-headed Foxface. Foxface gasps at him.

"It was not ME!" Foxface snaps at him.

"Guys, any of us could be lying. So what's the point in trying to convince the others? Any of us could be guilty, any of us could be innocent," Cato explains to everyone, "So therefore, let's drop the subject."

"I still think it was Peeta," Marvel says.

"It wasn't me!" Peeta tries with Marvel.

_It wasn't me. It can't be me. They have to believe I'm innocent!_

* * *

It's almost two hours later when they hear someone get up in the middle of the night. Katniss's eyes, still not fully adjusted to the dark room, try to make out who got up. She looks around and can see other dark, fuzzy blobs around the room sit up and look around for the source of the noise. Katniss feels Peeta's arms wrap around her as they search the room.

"Who just got up?" Madge whispers in the dark room.

"I dunno," Gale responds.

"It's me. Doing my business, if you must know. So just go back to sleep," Johanna says, clicking on a flashlight and pointing it at all of the curious faces. Katniss relaxes and falls back into Peeta's arms.

* * *

It's around one o'clock in the morning when a loud scream sounds from one of the sleeping figures. Everyone bolts up from their spots to see Foxface on the ground, dead. Her neck is bleeding with a large slash in it. Clove looks up from her spot on the recliner and gasps, motioning the others to gather around her. Katniss is silent as she stares down at the body of a girl who once was so full of life, and was so cunning. Katniss was sure she would have made it out alive, if any of them that weren't the murderer. A numb feeling takes over as she gazes at the sight of the bleeding girl. Peeta puts a hand on her shoulder. Madge's mouth falls agape. Marvel looks at the body in utter shock. Gale covers his mouth. Johanna looks around the room, eyes narrowed. Cato has an arm around Clove, and Clove, for the first time, doesn't shrug it off.

"Farrah is dead. There are eight of us left at this party. There's me, there's Peeta, there's Cato, then we have Clove, Marvel, Johanna, Gale, and Madge. One of us is the killer," Katniss says slowly to the others. They all look at one another.

"I don't know if you guys want to, but I'm going to go off on my own for a while," Peeta says, taking his sword with him. They all watch him walk off by himself, venturing in to the darkness the mansion has to offer. A flashlight sticks out of his back pocket, relieving Katniss as she watches him go. She slinks off to the chair to think as Peeta ascends the stairs. Gale grabs his bow and arrow.

"I'm going, too. For the same reason. I need to be alone," Gale says, walking up the stairs as well. Katniss and Madge glance at each other and decide to sit next to each other. Clove and Johanna join them on the couch. Cato and Marvel both occupy recliners, and they switch the TV back on for background noise, just so they don't feel as alone in the mansion. Katniss looks at the stairs every few minutes, waiting for them to come back down. Worry floods her veins as she hears their footsteps from upstairs.

"They'll be fine, Katniss. They're Peeta and Gale," Johanna says.

"Yeah, but they really don't like each other no matter how much they try to convince us otherwise. And I don't think all of that poison has gone out of Gale's system just yet. Gale could kill Peeta at any given, time thinking it's for self-defense when in reality it was just another pointless murder," Katniss tells Johanna. Johanna nods in understanding. Katniss sighs and gets up.

"Should I go look for them?" she asks.

"No, girl. But bring out some sodas," Johanna says. Katniss rolls her eyes and heads off toward the kitchen.

"I'm worried about her. She's been through a lot, here and back in Twelve. Tonight she's worried about Peeta and the rest of us from Twelve, she almost got choked to death, Delly died, and she's a nervous wreck. Back in Twelve, her dad died when she was eleven. Her mom shut down on her and Prim and Katniss had to take care of them all by going hunting each week. She was forced to grow up too fast, and then the incident with the bread came on top of it all," Madge says to the others in the room as soon as Katniss is out of earshot.

"And your point is?" Cato asks.

"We need to make sure she doesn't go berserk over this and end up getting herself killed, or kill everyone else just because she doesn't know who the murderer is," Madge says, glaring at the blonde District 2 boy. Cato rolls his eyes.

"She'll be fine, Madge."

"And who's to say she won't be?" Johanna responds.

"That makes me think _you're_ the murderer, Johanna," Clove says, pointing the tip of her knife at Johanna as she wipes it clean, "you keep going on and on about the murderer, and saying things just like you said now. Heck, you weren't even in the room for half the murders. That's suspicious, Jo. All too suspicious."

"Please, I'm not the murderer. In fact, I think Katniss is," Johanna says.

"And why would you suppose Katniss is the murderer?" Madge asks.

"Maybe she's just acting like she isn't. She's all sad over Delly's death, but maybe that's just a ploy to get us to believe her. I looked at that paper…that's none of our handwriting. That means someone is using their wrong hand. Even more than that, it was covered in blood, so it must have been written after someone died while that person was still with the dead person. I really do believe Katniss is the murderer. She's got Peeta as a boyfriend. Peeta can manipulate people. Maybe Katniss is finally learning from him and playing us all," Johanna replies.

The clang of soda cans crashing to the floor rings out right after Johanna finishes. Everyone turns to see Katniss standing there, jaw dropped and an obvious look of hurt on her face. Johanna puts her hand on her mouth.

"Katniss, she didn't mean it! You know Johanna never thinks before she talks!" Madge says.

"Forget it. You all think I'm the murderer, don't you? You all think the evidence is stacked against me. It's stacked against all of us! And just why would I kill Delly? When I had the flu, she and Madge helped look after Prim while my mom helped me. So why would you assume I would kill someone who helped my little sister, who I love to pieces?" Katniss exclaims, grabbing her bow and arrow and storming up the stairs.

"So…I suppose Katniss won't be talking to me any time soon," Johanna says.

"If she ever talks to you again," Cato adds.

"Cato, that is _not_ helping. Alright Pretty Boy? Just keep your mouth shut," Clove says.

"It's times like this that make me glad I tune you people out half the time," Marvel says.

* * *

Peeta rounds another corner in the mansion, looking around for any sign of the murderer. All he finds is another empty hallway. He sighs and slumps down against the wall, fatigue trying to take over his being. His blue eyes scan the room one more time and finally shut as he tries to drift off into a nice sleep. And then a bang sounds, jolting him.

"Hello?" he calls around the empty corridor. The only sound is heavy breathing. Peeta jumps up from his spot and holds his sword out in front of him.

"Who are you? I have a sword and I'm not afraid to use it," Peeta shouts. There's chuckling in the darkness, and Peeta's muscles tense as he hears someone step forward a few steps.

"Peeta, Peeta, Peeta…"

"Gale," Peeta says with a glare as the Seam boy steps into the light. Gale has an arrow strung on his bow, and a crazed look sits in his eyes. It's a look only tracker-jacker venom can produce. Peeta's confident demeanor wavers and quickly diminishes. Gale smirks at the boy and storms over to him, smashing his back into the wall. Peeta grimaces at the connection his body and the wood make, and pain shoots throughout his body. Gale's breathing begins to run ragged.

"So we meet again, Mellark. Are you here to finish me off? Where are the others? Did you finish them off, too?" Gale hisses, positioning his arrow in front of Peeta's heart. Peeta dares to look Gale in the eyes.

"It's not real, Gale. You have tracker-jacker venom in you. Not real Gale. It's not real," Peeta tries to reason with him. Gale glares at him and gets a grip around Peeta's neck. Peeta glares at him and raises his sword, making a swipe at Gale's abdomen. Gale jumps back, letting go of Peeta. Peeta takes the opportunity, turns, and runs. Gale runs after him, starting to shoot arrows at him. Peeta is quick on his feet with the knowledge of Gale, though a skilled hunter, like Katniss, not as good as the girl. Each one of Gale's arrows miss Peeta, until one strikes him in the arm. Peeta rips it out, and blood cascades down his jacket. He turns around and throws the arrow back. The arrow clatters to the floor and Gale clumsily grabs it.

"You can't get away from me forever, Bread Boy! You'll have to face me sometime!" Gale screeches, launching another arrow that strikes Peeta in the shoulder this time. Peeta also yanks that one out and throws it over his should, not looking back this time. Gale leaves it on the floor, running after Peeta.

_I'm almost safe. I'm almost safe. I'm almost to the next set of stairs where I can run up and then ride the banister back down. I can escape to the lower level with everyone else and save myself from the death that Gale wants me to have._

And then he crashes to the floor. Gale is on top of him, snarling viciously. The tracker-jacker venom at its finest. Peeta tries to reach for his sword, which had fallen from his hand, but it is too far away. Gale laughs at him wickedly. Peeta's blue eyes are filled with fear as Gale's longer arms reach for the silvery, shining sword. Peeta braces himself for the blow, and feels a long cut being made on his right arm, from top to bottom. Peeta suppresses a scream as Gale goes deeper the further along the line goes.

"There's none of your little Katniss to help you now. You killed her," Gale whispers to him. Peeta grunts.

"I did not!"

"You sure about that, Bread Boy?" Gale murmurs, pulling the bloody blade away from the blonde boy. Peeta looks toward his right arm to see a lot of blood on it. He turns back to face Gale, still struggling to get up. Gale senses Peeta's movement and gets off of him, yanking Peeta by the bloody arm and smashing him into the wall again. Peeta falls to the ground in immense pain as Gale delivers a kick to the chest. Peeta writhes in pain and watches defenselessly as Gale loads up another arrow. Peeta is too weak and tired even to move as he watches Gale aim the projectile at his head, an obvious death blow.

"Don't you dare fire that arrow."

Peeta's eyes trail to the end of the hallway. There's a figure, bathed in shadows, but Peeta knows that voice anywhere.

"Katniss…" His voice cracks. Gale smirks at Katniss.

"So, Bread Boy here didn't kill you? Too bad, he's probably killed all of the others. So I've got to finish him off so he's not a threat to us anymore. Stay out of it, Katniss. Then you and I can go back home to District 12, and spend the rest of our days hunting, getting married, raising children," he warns.

"If you kill Peeta, I'll never forgive you. I'll kill you. Heck, I'll kill myself. Leave. Peeta. Alone," Katniss snaps, aiming an arrow at Gale.

"You actually think I'm intimidated by you, huh Katniss?" Gale asks, dropping his bow and arrow to the side, "You're a funny little girl, Kat. Listen, why don't you just run along, and I'll take care of things from here on out, 'kay?" Katniss also drops her bow and arrow down to her side and stands straight as she faces Gale.

"I'm not backing down. Madge is waiting for you downstairs. Now why don't you head on down so she can make you right in the head?" she retorts.

"You don't seem to know what the term 'stay out of it' means, do you?" Gale snaps at her, now aiming his bow and arrow at Katniss. Peeta looks at the two of them fighting, coming out of his hunched armadillo position and reaching for his sword. Gale spots this out of the corner of his eye and without looking kicks the weapon backwards, sending it skidding across the hallway and into the dark. Peeta fearfully retracts his arm.

"I'm not going to let you kill Peeta. I'm just not," Katniss says, trying to stand her ground. Peeta can see her demeanor waver just a bit, not as much as his had done earlier. Gale shakes his head at Katniss.

"I don't see why you want to save him. Think about _us_, Katniss. We'll have served justice to the rest that have been killed tonight by killing Peeta. Then you and I can go back home to District 12 together. We'll get married and get a house. We can have a mini Gale and a mini Katniss running around the house, maybe more mini versions of us. Katniss, don't you see?" Gale says.

"Gale, someone poisoned your drink with something that had tracker-jacker venom in it! You're freaking hijacked, for crying out loud! You're dating Madge, I'm dating Peeta, and I can guarantee you Peeta is not the murderer!" Katniss yells at Gale. Gale glares at her and catches her off-guard, sending them both crashing to the floor. Peeta watches in terror as Gale tries to choke the life out of Katniss, just as he did to him. Body aflame with pain, Peeta runs into the shadows to find the sword, leaving Katniss to think he is abandoning her at the most crucial time.

"Peeta!" Katniss chokes as she struggles for air, "Peeta, please!" Peeta comes back into the light with his gleaming sword in his hand.

"Leave Katniss alone, Gale! What has she ever done to you?" Peeta shouts. Gale turns, the wild look still in his eye as he turns to face Peeta, with his recovered sword.

"Humph, you're right. Have you decided to let me finally finish you off, Bread Boy?" Gale snarls, grabbing his bow and arrows. Peeta shakes his head.

"You won't be finishing anyone off, Hunter Dude. You can leave me and Katniss alone. You have two options…get out of here, or I'll be forced to do some major damage," Peeta snaps at him.

"Little Mellark here still hasn't learned, has he?" Gale asks, lunging for him. Peeta holds the sword out in front of him as Gale tries to attack, giving Gale a rather large slash on his right forearm. Gale cringes and falls to the ground in pain, but not before launching an arrow into Peeta's abdomen. Both boys crumble into the fetal position, leaving Katniss standing there, open-mouthed.

"What…just…happened…?"

* * *

**Deaths in order: ****Annie, Cashmere, Gloss, Finnick, Glimmer, Delly, Foxface**  
Intense, was it not? Poor Peeta and poor Gale! Poor Katniss, having to watch the two of them fight! What do you think of this chapter? Sorry it took me a while, I've been working on my other THG fics as well! I hope to have another update up soon! See you guys all in the next chapter!


	5. Kidnap or Be Killed

**Okay, if you thought the last chapter was the most intense, this chapter will prove you wrong. This is way more intense. I mean it. SERIOUSLY. Okay, so, I _would_ let you read it, and I will...but first I need to speak to the reviewers. Yep.**

**clarissa: Thank you! Thanks for reviewing, and here's that update!**

**Catolover123: You'll be pleased to hear about some Clato in this chapter!**

**The Mockingjays Flames: Don't forget, he's got tracker-jacker venom in him. Your guesses are very good with good reasoning, and you're going to find out the murderer in this chapter! Now I see you bouncing on the edge of your seat. I can imagine it. XD **

**drea29: Since you guessed one person, I can't tell you if it's right or wrong, but good guess! You're going to find out in this chapter. Thank you, and here's the update!**

**The Knife Throwing Expert: Thank you! Here's that update you asked for!**

**HogwartsDreamer113: Good reasoning on your guesses and why you didn't guess some people, and here's the new chapter!**

**Emma: I try to make it unpredictable...so that's good. Yep, CLATO! I wouldn't say it's perfect, but thanks anyway! :) And I'm crazy-minded too. This chapter will prove it.**

**EvelynElizabeth214: Thank you, and I can't tell you if Peeta dies or not. Sorry! But here's the next update!**

**Alright guys, I know you are all super excited about this new chapter! **

******Deaths in order: ****Annie, Cashmere, Gloss, Finnick, Glimmer, Delly, Foxface**

**********Now, read on!**

* * *

Night of No End  
by SassySunshine  
Kidnap or Be Killed

"Okay, Katniss, Peeta, and Gale have been gone for far too long. Something's wrong here. I need to look for them and make sure they're okay," Madge says, getting up out of her seat.

"Madge…take Finnick's trident with you. You don't need to know much except that when you're in a lot of trouble, just stab someone with it. I don't think Finnick would mind if you're using it to protect yourself," Johanna says. Madge nods and picks up the gold object, fingering it delicately before ascending the stairs with it, leaving Cato, Clove, Marvel, and Johanna in the living room.

"I'm really worried now. There's eight of us left here. Seven of us are innocent. One of us is guilty," Clove says. Cato puts an arm around her and pulls her closer, and this time Clove doesn't bother pulling away.

"It'll be alright, Clove. We'll find out who it is and I promise you both of us will make it home," Cato tells her. Clove nods to him, and Cato smiles contently as the two rest together on the couch.

* * *

Katniss looks from Peeta to Gale repeatedly. Gale doesn't look too banged up, minus the cut on his arm, but it is Peeta who alarms Katniss. Peeta had received a kick to the chest, an arrow to the abdomen, a large cut all down his right arm, and had been slammed into the wall and wrestled to the floor several times. All and all, Peeta is injured terribly. Katniss kneels beside the blonde boy, pushing hair from his eyes. His eyes are barely open, and he faintly smiles up at Katniss.

"You okay, Katniss?" he asks.

"I'll be okay when you are. Peeta…it's gonna be alright. We're going to make it out of here…just please, don't die on me now. I need you here with me, Peeta. Stay with me," Katniss whispers. Peeta gives her some sort of a grin.

"Always."

"Lies," Gale hisses dangerously.

"Stop it, Gale. You have tracker-jacker poison in your system. You aren't yourself. Just stop talking," Katniss says to him quietly.

"No…Mellark ain't gonna win here," Gale growls, struggling to his feet. Katniss sits in front of Peeta protectively, grabbing her bow and arrow, as well as Peeta's sword for Peeta to hold. Gale pushes Katniss aside, right when a fourth voice cuts into the thick tension.

"Gale Korrin Hawthorne, leave them alone."

Gale spins on his heel to see Madge standing there, Finnick's trident in her hands. There is a flicker of the old Gale as he drops his bow and arrow to the floor. Katniss looks at Peeta as the blonde boy shrugs. Gale makes his way over to Madge and engulfs her in a hug. Madge returns it, and Katniss nods.

"It seems Madge is the only one who can bring him back to his senses," she says.

"Madge…you're alive…you're here…," Gale whispers. Madge pushes him back a bit and grabs him by the shoulders, looking him dead in the eye.

"Gale. Are you stable now?"

"Peeta didn't kill you…"

"Not real, Gale. We don't know who the murderer is. We don't know if it's Peeta or someone else. The murderer is unidentified," Madge says. Gale nods absently.

"Are you ready to apologize to Peeta?"

"For what?" Gale asks obliviously. Madge turns him around so he can see Peeta, bruised and bloody, lying on the floor while Katniss kneels beside him.

"Peeta!" Gale exclaims. Peeta recoils while Katniss steadily moves in front of him, holding up her bow and arrow. Gale looks down at his feet in shame. Katniss's demeanor softens and Peeta slowly opens his eyes to find nobody has been attacked. Instead, Gale kneels beside Peeta. Madge and Katniss keep a watchful eye on the Seam boy.

"Peeta…I'm really sorry…I really don't know what happened," Gale says.

"Someone put something in your drink. It had tracker-jacker venom in it," Madge explains from behind him, "Farrah identified it and died shortly after."

"I remember her death, but everything before her death and after while I had that venom in me is a blur," Gale says.

"The venom messed with your memories where you repeatedly accused Peeta of being the murderer and tried to 'do justice' as you called it. Basically, you tried to kill him both times," Katniss explains. Gale looks down at Peeta in shock, while Peeta nods to him.

"It's true. You were gonna finish me off, and then Katniss came along. You tried to kill her, too, for not loving you. I shouted something at you and you got off of choking Katniss to death and lunged for me. I held out my sword and cut you on the arm, and you lodged an arrow in my stomach. We fell to the ground, Gale. Katniss watched us for a few minutes before finally talking to me. You got all mad and staggered to your feet. You pushed Katniss away because she was in front of me and were about to kill me again when Madge yelled at you. You gave her a hug, and I suppose you know what happens next," Peeta explains to the dark-haired boy.

"Peeta," Gale says, "I'm really, really sorry."

"It's alright, man," Peeta says.

* * *

"Okay, who else is officially bored?" Clove asks.

"I am. Who wants to go look for clues? I'm feeling adventurous," Johanna says.

"I'll go, I guess," Marvel says.

"I'm staying here. I need to catch up on my sleep," Cato says drowsily. The other three nod and take off, leaving Cato all alone in the living room.

"Alright, so, we need to find something that could possibly tell us who the murderer is," Clove says to Marvel and Johanna. Johanna's eyes catch a bright yellow piece of paper sticking out from a wall down the hallway.

"Guys, look," she says, pointing to it. Marvel walks to it and rips it out of the wall.

_Dear Friends,_

_ After listening to Gale having told Peeta, Madge, Katniss, and me about those murder movies and that board game, I have decided to write this letter should I die. There's something I should really tell you guys. I'm jealous of some of you. Very, very jealous. Most notably, I'm jealous of Annie, Katniss and Madge. They have boyfriends from back home, but I'm still as single as ever. I am not desirable to most people. A lot of people in the Seam dislike me because they view me as a wealthy, stuck-up merchant kid. No; I'm not. And if I do find someone they like, they only view me as a close friend. I've always been friend-zoned. I've always wanted a boyfriend, someone handsome and loving. But no. All I get is guys who are semi-handsome and friend-zone me._

_ I don't like jealousy. It's an ugly feeling for me, but I have it anyway. It drives me crazy. If I die tonight, let me let you guys know I'll still love you all no matter what. If anyone from Twelve should make it home tonight, tell them to let my parents know that I love them. Tell the Everdeens, the Hawthornes, the Mellarks (well, Mr. Mellark and Peeta's brothers, anyway), and the Undersees that I've enjoyed their families very much._

_ Love, Delly_

"That's…tragic," Johanna says, putting down the note.

"Delly can't be responsible for any of these deaths, even Annie's, though she's jealous of her. Delly's just too good a person and she died tonight," Marvel says.

"Well, no duh. Let's think here. Gale didn't start going crazy until the tracker-jacker stuff was put in his drink, _after_ Farrah died. Madge is too innocent to do this, and Johanna only uses axes. I only cut up faces, so I would use knives and everyone's faces would be all weird-lookin' when we found them," Clove says.

"That leaves Marvel, Cato, Katniss, and Peeta," Johanna says.

"Peeta's too nice to kill anyone," Clove says.

"I'm right here, guys. That hurts, that really hurt," Marvel says.

"Alright, so it's either Katniss or Cato," Clove says, glaring at Marvel.

"Katniss has been on edge all night. I really don't think it's her," Marvel says.

"Guys…this means Cato is the murderer," Johanna says.

"Well, well, well," a nasty voice sounds from behind them.

"Run!" Johanna shrieks, taking off down the hallway. Clove shoves Marvel into Cato and runs in the opposite direction of Johanna. Marvel's eyes widen at the sight of Cato. Cato grabs him by the shoulders.

"Marvel, listen here. They know I'm the murderer. They're probably looking for Katniss, Peeta, Madge, and Gale so they can warn them. They still trust you. Don't let them know you're in on this with me. I need you to find Clove and bring her to me. ALIVE. Do you understand me?" Cato asks. Marvel nods.

"Good. Now, go find her. I'll be waiting," Cato says. Marvel nods with a smirk and runs off screaming. Cato grins deviously and grabs his sword. Cato's eyes sparkle with an evil only his can make.

"Watch out Mellark," he whispers, "You're next."

* * *

"Okay, so all we need to do is find the others, now. Are you sure you're okay now, Peeta?" Katniss says as they walk along. Peeta nods.

"I'm fine. Worse has been done…by my mom," Peeta says. Madge nods to him.

"I came over early one day and heard her hitting him. Real bad. He came out with a nosebleed and several scratches."

"Don't remind me," Peeta groans.

"Guys!" Clove yells, running in from down the stairs. She practically knocks them over as she runs up to them.

"Clove, you look frazzled. What's wrong?" Katniss asks.

"Cato's the murderer. We're sure of it. Marvel, Johanna, and I went off exploring while Cato stayed in the living room to catch up on his sleep. We found a note from Delly and narrowed down the list of murderers to Katniss and Cato, and then we eliminated Katniss, and Cato comes up behind us all like 'well, well, well' in that creepy voice! Johanna screamed and ran, so I pushed Marvel into him and took off to warn you guys," Clove explains hurriedly.

"Let me get this straight. Cato is the killer, and he's been telling everyone else to confess. I should've seen the signs!" Peeta exclaims.

"Listen to me. We need to escape this mansion as fast as we can. Cato's out looking for us, and who knows who he's going to kill next? We need to find an escape route somehow," Clove says.

"Clove, Clove! HELP!" a scream rings out.

"That sounds like Marvel," Gale says quietly, looking at the others. Clove shakes her head at them.

"I've gotta help him. You guys find Johanna and get out of here. I'll be looking forward to killing Cato. He killed Gloss!" Clove says, taking out a large knife from her jacket and running off. The others watch her leave.

"What now?" Peeta asks.

"I say we split up and get out of here in a smaller group. Cato will be able to find us more easily if we're in one big clump. For safety measures, I'll be going with Madge. Peeta, Katniss, good luck," Gale says. They break off and begin running in opposite directions. Katniss and Peeta run up a flight of stairs while Gale and Madge take off down another set.

* * *

"Clove, Clove! HELP!" Marvel screams. Cato stands around a corner, looking on while at the same time planning Peeta's demise. Clove comes running around a corner a few minutes later, large knife in her hand. Cato grins acrimoniously as Clove stumbles upon their trap. A steel cage falls on top of her. Clove's jaw drops.

"Marvel! What the heck?" Clove shouts, gripping the bars.

"Sorry, Clove. I had orders."

"Wha—"

Cato appears from around the corner, grinning at Clove maliciously. Clove backs up in the cage as Cato walks toward the silver trap.

"Ah, Clove Neilson. What a pretty young girl, if I must say," Cato says.

"Cut the act, dumbbutt. We've been friends for years. Why are you suddenly being such a jerk?" Clove snaps at him. She turns to Marvel.

"And you! I thought Cato was killing you! Do you know how disappointed in you Glimmer probably is?" Clove says, trying to make Marvel feel guilty. Marvel's expression hardens.

"Don't bring her up, Clove. Your best option here is silence," Marvel responds to her in a dangerous tone. Clove keeps her mouth shut as she glares at the two of them. Cato smirks.

"Deactivate the cage, Marvel. Clove, listen here. This is simple. You don't run away, you live. You try to run, you die. Simple enough?" Cato says. Clove nods with a glare at him. Cato grins at her.

"Good."

Marvel deactivates the cage trap, and Cato puts his arm around Clove. Clove starts to pull away when Cato gives her a warning look. With a huff, Clove moves back over to him. Cato nods approvingly.

"Now, Clove, you and Marvel have a mission. I need you to find Johanna, Gale, Madge, Katniss, and Peeta. I need you to bring them to me, alive. There are cameras everywhere. I'll be watching your every move. If you so much as let them escape, not only do they die, but you do as well," Cato threatens.

Marvel and Clove reluctantly nod and walk off to find them.

* * *

"Cato is nuts," Johanna whispers to herself from the other side of the door in the hallway. She had been listening in and watching Clove, Marvel, and Cato ever since Marvel had been screaming. Now she leans against the wall, trying to sort everything out in her mind.

"Cato could quite possibly know my location. Clove and Marvel must obey or be killed. Katniss, Peeta, Madge, and Gale are oblivious and completely vulnerable in this situation. Cato is stupid. Cato is mean. Cato must die," Johanna mutters.

"Just what was that, Johanna?"

The door swings open to reveal Cato with his sword. Johanna holds her axe out in front of her.

"You better watch out, District Two! I've been wielding this thing back home for years and can take your head off in one throw if you're not careful!" Johanna shouts at him. Cato smirks and shakes his head.

"Johanna Mason. You were a friend of mine, you know. You were headstrong, and sometimes very arrogant. You cared for your friends and you always made sure they felt okay, and that they were out of harm's way. But tonight everyone has changed. I've changed, you've changed. They say change is good…but not all change. I have a proposition for you. If you aid Clove and Marvel in finding the others, maybe I'll reward you, by letting you live. If you disobey, you and the others die. I need you to bring me Katniss Everdeen, and I want her alive," Cato says. Johanna looks down and sighs.

"Fine. Only because I want them to live," she grumbles. She walks off.

Cato smirks.

"Johanna will find Katniss, Marvel will find Gale, Clove will find Madge, and that leaves Mellark all for me."

* * *

"There's something wrong here. I don't hear Clove screaming. I don't hear Marvel screaming. I don't hear Cato's head falling to the floor," Katniss says, putting her arm in front of Peeta suddenly. Peeta meets her gaze as they hear a series of thumps sounding, closer and closer to them with each passing minute. Johanna appears down the hallway at the top of the stairs with her axe, and Peeta holds on to Katniss.

"Peeta…something doesn't feel right," Katniss whispers.

"I'm getting the same feeling," Peeta whispers back.

"We better run."

"I second that."

Peeta and Katniss take off running down the hallway, and Johanna also breaks into a run as she chases after them.

"Peeta, what do we do?" Katniss shouts.

"We figure out how to get away from her!" Peeta responds, throwing open a door and shoving Katniss in. He goes in and slams the door shut. Katniss locks it and the two of them lean against it, breathing heavily.

"I think we're okay, for now anyway," Peeta says. Right then the blade of the axe comes through the door, right in between the small space between Katniss and Peeta's heads. Both teens' eyes widen as they look at each other.

"Alright, alright. Just don't panic. We'll find a way out of here. We just need to assess everything," Peeta says.

"Wait…Clove said Cato's the killer…so why is Johanna after us?" Katniss interrupts.

"He could have accomplices, or he could have forced them to do something! Listen, it doesn't matter now who it is. It could've been multiple people, I don't care. All I care about now is getting _you_ out of here," Peeta says.

"Open this door, now!" Johanna shouts from the other side of the door.

"Peeta, we don't have a choice here, do we? There's no way out of this room and eventually Johanna's just gonna end up busting the door down," Katniss says. Peeta wraps his arm around her.

"Kat, whatever happens, I love you."

"I love you too Peeta."

Katniss pulls open the door and Johanna stomps in and grabs Katniss by the arm.

"What are you doing with her?" Peeta demands.

"Cato's orders. It was this, or my life on top of yours and hers. He wants her alive, don't worry," Johanna says, slamming the door. Peeta is left alone to watch Johanna take Katniss's bow and arrows and put them in a bag with other weapons. Peeta looks down at the sword in his hand and sighs. He slams it on the ground.

"Who's left? Clove and Marvel are probably doing the same thing. That leaves Gale, Madge, and me. Cato is smart enough not to take on Gale…but Marvel probably is taking him on. Since Johanna took Katniss…that leaves Clove to get Madge. And that leaves Cato to take on me," he talks to himself, putting his head in his hands.

_They took Katniss from me._

_ Cato is making them all do this. They don't want to. They're sparing our lives._

_ I need to find them. All of them._

Peeta pulls open the door and steps into the hallway, looking around for his friends.

"Don't worry guys. I'm coming."

* * *

Meanwhile on the top floor, Katniss is being tied to a chair in the center of the room. There are four chairs in the center of the room and three against the wall. Gale and Madge are also tied to chairs in the center of the room. All of the chairs have their backs to each other.

"This bites," Gale snaps.

"Tell me about it," Katniss says irritably.

"We need to find a way out of here," Madge says.

"We can't. I was told we were under surveillance, and we still are," Gale says.

"Cato is stupid. He's a nutcase. Next time, we're not inviting him to our parties," Madge snaps.

"There is no next time. Half of our friends are dead and for all we know, we could be next," Gale mumbles.

"Listen guys, there's still hope. Peeta's out there looking for us. He's gonna find us, and he's gonna help us escape," Katniss says.

"Not likely. Cato's out to find him and Cato has a sword," Johanna pipes up.

"Peeta has a sword too. You forgot to take that when you yanked me away," Katniss replies with a glare.

"Don't get snippy with me, Katniss," Johanna warns, "Cato said if I let you get away, we would both be dead. I actually did you a favor."

"Whatever," Katniss mutters. Johanna sighs and looks up at one of the TV monitors in the room. Cato is approaching Peeta.

"Listen guys. As soon as Cato finds Peeta, Clove, Marvel, and I are busting you all out of here. You got that?" Johanna explains.

"That would be soon," Marvel says, eying the screen.

* * *

Peeta turns another corner with his sword in his hand, searching for Cato. He feels a presence and turns around. Cato stands there, grinning maliciously, his sword in his hand. Cato smirks at him.

"Well, fancy seeing you here, Bread Boy," Cato says.

"Cato," Peeta says uneasily.

"I'll make you a deal, Peeta. If you surrender to me now, you'll live, and so will your precious Katniss. If you don't surrender, I'll kill you, and then Katniss will be next. Now, you don't want her pretty little head to be slashed off of her body, now, would you?" Cato snarls at him with a malicious grin.

Peeta is torn.

"Having trouble deciding?" Cato asks darkly, "I'll help you out." With that, Cato lunges for Peeta. Peeta jumps back, holding out his sword, and the two metal weapons clash. With another series of attempted strikes from Cato and parries from Peeta, the two boys end up on a balcony overlooking a cliff with the water of the ocean below. It is still pouring outside, making the fight even more precarious.

"You don't wanna give up, do ya, Bread Boy?"

"You aren't going to kill Katniss even if I have to die to make sure she's safe!"

"That can be arranged!"

"Not on my watch!"

Peeta makes a jab at Cato. Cato jumps over the blade and he brings down his sword to make a death blow to Peeta's head. Peeta raises his sword and the two weapons clang together. The two boys push their swords together, coming face to face. Cato kicks Peeta in the abdomen, sending him flying onto his back on the slick concrete balcony. Waves of pain rip through Peeta as he holds up his sword to block all of Cato's attacks. Cato grins and makes a swipe for Peeta's leg. Peeta deflects the sword again and tries this time for Cato's ankle. Cato jumps out of the way, giving Peeta enough time to stagger to his feet.

"I take it you don't want to go down easy," Cato growls.

"Never," Peeta responds, gripping his sword.

"Please, Peeta. Everything done for love always ends in disaster. I thought you were smarter than this," Cato snaps.

"And you're a living example!" Peeta says, and adds after a grunt, "You turned a murderer just so you could kill Gloss and get Clove, but that backfired so horribly."

"You better keep that mouth of yours shut, Mellark," Cato snarls, making a cut over the one Gale made on Peeta's arm earlier. Fresh rivulets of blood start dripping down his arm. Peeta bites his lip to keep from crying out and masks his pain with a demeanor of determination. He tries to slash at Cato's leg, but ends up getting another cut, this time on his left leg. It isn't too deep, judging by the not-so-intense pain. It still hurts Peeta, nonetheless. Cato senses this and makes another jab at Peeta. Peeta deflects the blow just in time and backs up as Cato initiates another wave of attempted strikes, all of which Peeta manages to parry.

"You're really getting on my nerves, Mellark!" Cato snaps.

"You're so very welcome," Peeta responds, making a slash on Cato's shoulder. Cato growls and jabs at him. Peeta jumps onto a ledge, and Cato joins him up there. They carefully side step as they one-handedly wield their swords. A few times, both of the boys almost fall off of the slippery concrete into the angry waters below.

"Peeta!" a voice cries. Cato and Peeta's eyes both fly to the entrance to the balcony to see Katniss, Johanna, Gale, Marvel, Madge, and Clove.

"How did you all escape?" Cato screeches in rage.

"Please, like we would all listen to you, you over-controlling psychopath!" Johanna shouts at him.

"You're all defying me? How dare you! Just for that, you'll pay! You'll get a front-row viewing of the demise of Peeta Mellark! How does that sound for you all? Fun, right?" Cato shouts.

"Cato! Why are you doing this?" Clove screams over the thunder.

"For you, Clove! I hated Gloss because you loved him! So I killed him! And you still didn't want me! And everyone kept getting in my way!" Cato shouts at her.

"That's not winning me over, you idiot! All that's doing is taking away people that the rest of us knew and loved! You're crazy, and now you'll _never_ have a chance with me! So you can go home back to District Two and cry about it to your mom! GET OVER IT, CATO!" Clove screams at him. The pain and shock registering in Cato's eyes quickly turns to fury, and he turns toward Peeta, to take it out on the blonde boy. Peeta backs up in shock.

"Peeta, be careful!" Katniss yells.

Cato smirks when he hears Katniss's voice, and fear becomes evident in Peeta's expression as Cato kicks him over the edge, into the murky waters below.

* * *

******Deaths in order: ****Annie, Cashmere, Gloss, Finnick, Glimmer, Delly, Foxface (Peeta? Hmm...)**

**OH. MY. GOODNESS. Intenseness!**

**Will Peeta be okay?**

**Has Cato lost his mind?**

**I bet I shocked you when I told you the murderer is Cato. …No, some of you saw that coming. Kudos to The Mockingjays Flames, Ivy Blackwell, and plaidprincess3000, because at some point they guessed Cato as the murderer!**

**Even if you didn't guess Cato, you had a lot of good reasons for it to be whoever else you guessed. A lot of you said the evidence was stacked against Johanna. I made it that way to throw you guys off. I'm evil like that.**

**I'm also evil enough to give you a cliffhanger. **

**Mua ha ha.**

**Anyways, this story is not over yet! It will have one or two more chapters after this one, and then as an added bonus at the end of the story, if you guys would like, we sit down with the characters and talk about filming this fanfic! As in…we do an interview/behind the scenes with Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Madge, Delly, Johanna, Finnick, Annie, Cato, Clove, Gloss, Cashmere, Glimmer, Marvel, and Foxface.**

**So, what do you guys think?**

**I'll see you all in the next chapter!**


	6. Interrogation and More Hijacking

**Okay, this chapter may not be as intense as the last one, but, SPOILER, plot-twist-cliffhanger at the end of the chapter. Just warning you guys. **

**Okay, as always, I must speak to my loyal reviewers.**

**Y.O.L.O So do it right: Nah, the Disney movies are locked up in President Snow's mansion for Friday Night Movie Night, nobody else has ever seen 'em unless they've traveled to the Capitol for the party. But, anyway, your question as to Cato being bent on killing Peeta is in the chapter!**

**plaidprincess3000: You have to read to find out on Peeta, and sadly, yes, there are only a few chapters left, but I'll be working on other works that run along the same AU line like in this fanfic and Panem High. Thanks for reviewing!**

**alyssa: Thanks! I would also like to see it as a movie!**

**The Knife Throwing Expert: Cato kills his crush's crush in hopes of not being found out and being there to comfort the crush when their crush is all dead and stuff. The exact reasons for killing everyone are in the second A/N at the end of the chapter, but they are vaguely explained in the chapter. Thank you, and I guess I will do behind-the-scenes and interviews! **

**The Mockingjays Flames: Congrats on your correct guess, and I can't spoil if Peeta died or not. You've gotta read it!**

**CloveDiedForYourSins: Yeah, it was Cato. I've had the sword fight between him and Peeta planned since chapter 1! Anyways, this chapter has a whole section dedicated to some Clato! Yay!**

**Loyal2Artemis: Can't spoil, sorry! You've gotta read to see what happens to our dear Boy With The Bread!**

**HogwartsDreamer113: Yep, Cato is the crazy murderer! And on Peeta, I know! He's too cute, and he bakes bread!**

**KarmaKnives: Thanks! Here's the update!**

**drea29: Yep, I hope so too.**

**Emma: First I lol'd at your review. Then I serious'd. Sorry that Cato had to be the one, but I've had it planned since I started! Anyway, thanks for reviewing, and here's the update!**

**Arianna: Yep, there's something interesting that happens during this chapter revolving around him.**

**vampirepanda12: Thank you! I don't know, is Peeta dead or alive...? Hmm...**

**Well guys, you're all dying to know whether or not Peeta even survived the fall, and so are the characters! So, I'm going to let you read on!**

* * *

Night of No End  
by SassySunshine  
Interrogation and More Hijacking

"PEETA!" Katniss shrieks, watching him fall over the edge. Cato begins to laugh maniacally, with lightning conveniently flashing in the background. Tears sting at Katniss's eyes. Madge looks on with concern, and Gale's fists clench. The Seam boy taking a running start, and he tackles Cato, wrestling him to the ground.

"Marvel, stay here and help Gale. HELP. GALE. Not Cato! The rest of us are going to see if Peeta somehow survived that fall," Clove says. Marvel nods.

"SOMEHOW?" Katniss screams.

"Kat, calm down!" Madge says.

"He'll have survived," Johanna tries to reassure Katniss. The four girls bolt down the stairs and out the front door of the mansion and make their way down a rickety old series of stairs to a beach. The sea breeze makes it colder in the driving rain. Katniss kicks off her shoes and runs into the ocean.

"Peeta! Peeta, _PLEASE_ be okay!" she screams.

"I see him!" Johanna shouts.

"Where?" Katniss cries, looking frantically for Peeta's blonde head.

"Katniss, turn to your left," Madge instructs. Katniss turns to her left and sees Peeta floating in the water, choking on the seawater.

"Peeta! Guys, get over here and help me get Peeta out of the water!" Katniss shouts. Madge, Johanna, and Clove all wade into the water with Katniss, and they all make their way over to Peeta. They all hoist him out of the water and put him on the wet sand.

"Peeta…please live," Katniss whispers to him. Peeta grins weakly at her.

"I'm not going anywhere, Kat."

"Stay with me…"

"Always."

"You guys sicken me. It's cute. But it sickens me," Johanna mutters.

Katniss ignores her.

"Peeta, where are you hurt? You seem in pain," she says to her boyfriend.

"Everywhere. I hit the water with a really hard force, I still had the marks from where Gale hurt me, and Cato only made them worse," Peeta mutters.

"You poor thing. We need to get you out of the rain. Gale is still on that balcony, pounding Cato right now," Katniss says.

* * *

Half an hour later, everyone is seated in the living room. Cato is bruised and tied down to a chair. Gale has minor cuts and scratches and sits on the couch with an arm around Delly. Katniss and Peeta hold onto each other and they sit on the love seat. Johanna, Clove, and Marvel all sit on the floor in between the couch and the love seat.

"Cato, before we call the police, we're going for an interrogation," Katniss announces.

"Why just me? Have you forgotten, Marvel was in on it from the start?"

"You did all the killing! I just helped you plan it! I know I'm guilty, but at least I have the guts to feel bad about it! You have no heart, Cato! NO HEART! AND WHERE DID THE FREAKING LIST COME FROM? WE NEVER AGREED ON A STUPID LIST!" Marvel yells.

"Marvel, calm yourself! We'll interrogate you later. It's Cato's interrogation time," Katniss says.

"Alright Cato, why'd you do it?" Clove asks curiously.

"I was jealous. I was jealous of Annie and Finnick. They had a happy relationship. I was jealous of Gale and Madge because they were in a happy relationship. I was especially jealous of Katniss and Peeta. They had the closest relationship. Peeta has the good looks and a loving girlfriend, not to mention he can smooth-talk his way out of every darn thing. I wanted to make Finnick suffer, so I took Annie from him. I wanted to make Gloss suffer the loss of his twin sister, who I pretended to love. I took her down next so people wouldn't assume it was me. Gloss was next because I was jealous of him…because Clove liked him. Finnick was next. He suffered long enough for my standards without Annie, and his whining was irritating. Glimmer was next because though Marvel had a crush on her, I knew they would end up together some day. I could tell. I chose Delly to make the rest of District Twelve suffer, because they were all in relationships while Delly was a fifth wheel. I killed Farrah to throw you all off. Peeta Mellark was supposed to be next, but he just had to survive that fall!" Cato explains.

"You're sick!" Johanna says with a glare.

"Am I?" Cato asks.

"Yeah, you are. Even I didn't see that coming and I was helping you," Marvel says with a grimace.

"You were all too dumb to realize who the murderer was, even though there were many hints. I had a crush on Clove, but she liked Gloss. I thought you could all tell by the way I looked at her and she looked at him. Clove should've figured it out right after Cash died. I joked that she sounded like she was the murderer when she said whoever took her knives is dead meat. She said she knew it wasn't her because she slashes up faces, and abdomens are for the unskilled. So I slashed Cashmere's face up. Before Cashmere died, Farrah had said murderers loved to kill in chaos. So I tried to keep the room chaotic. I stole Clove's knife to kill Cashmere and slashed up her face so I could frame Clove. I even lied, saying I liked Cashmere, as I said earlier, and that would only further put the blame on Clove. I faked the tears at Gloss's death and asked who would do such a thing so I would seem as innocent as possible. During the course of the night, I put tracker-jacker hijacking powder in Gale's drink, even before you all noticed it. Hours before that. That way, Gale's hate of Peeta would be shown to a very high point so those two would draw the attention from me. I distorted my voice with a sound system and used a fan to scare the crud out of Katniss, just so that would make her seem crazy and I could prepare my next kill. I argued with Peeta when only that few of us were awake, maybe giving you some form of mercy by trying to blame him as another hint. I kept saying one of us has to be lying to even further pawn the blame off of me. I knew someone would find that blood-soaked note I wrote during the death of Finnick. I purposely ripped part off to leave you in suspense. I wrote _Sexy Boy_ for Finnick to make it look like a girl wrote it. I wrote with my left hand instead of my right hand so the writing would be unrecognizable. I made the list and told Marvel to calm down because he wouldn't blame me, and that would make it seem like it was someone else. I kept asking questions about Gale's madness with the tracker-jacker stuff. I timed some of the deaths so to occur when Johanna was out of the room so you would all blame her. Then the evidence started to stack against Peeta after Gale tackled him in the living room. I comforted Clove to make me look innocent and kind. I told you all Katniss would be fine so I could go kill her, but I decided against it. That's all of my hints," Cato says.

"You're…you're insane!" Clove shouts at him.

"I probably am. Too bad you all didn't figure it out quick enough. A lot more of us could have been alive tonight," Cato says.

"That's sick, dude! You never told me any of that! I can't believe I ever helped you! I can't believe you killed Glimmer! To make me jealous and suffer no less!" Marvel shouts at him.

"Cato…you disgust me," Johanna says.

"I'm going to call Haymitch and tell him to get us, and bring the Peacekeepers," Katniss says, leaving the room.

"Cato, I can't believe you," Clove says sadly, with a shake of her head, "Gloss was in college, I was in high school. It was like having a celebrity crush. It's probably not going to happen. Had you not done this, I probably would've ended up with you. You just screwed yourself, Cato. You were stupid to go around killing everyone just because of me. That was rude and dumb and impulsive. I don't think I'm going to forgive you for this for a long time."

"Clove!" Cato says.

"Watch out! He's kill-crazy!" Madge shouts, jumping behind Gale.

"Shut it, Madge!" Cato says.

"Don't worry, if he can't keep calm and starts to kill before Haymitch and the Peacekeepers come, I'll whack his head off with my axe. It'll be totally legal, too, in the name of self-defense," Johanna says, shooting a glance at Cato. Madge nods and glares at Cato. Cato glares back at the two girls looking at him. Gale moves closer to Madge protectively. Cato snorts.

"I need some time to think about this. I'm going into the kitchen. If you hear anything crash, I probably have gone into a fit of rage. Don't come in," Clove says, storming out as Katniss comes back in with a concerned look.

"Okay, Clove aside, I have bad news. In this storm and with power out, I have no cell service. We're stuck here until someone can drive back to Twelve and get Haymitch tomorrow morning," Katniss says.

"So we're stuck with killer Cato all night?" Gale asks, eying him.

"Yup…we're stuck here with him alright," Peeta says. At the sound of Peeta's voice, Gale's head snaps in his direction. Madge feels Gale tense up and places her hands firmly on his shoulders.

"Not again!" Katniss groans.

"Not real, Gale! Gale, it isn't real! Peeta is innocent! Cato is the killer!"

"It's Peeta…," Gale growls, stare locked on Peeta.

"Katniss, I recommend taking Peeta out of the room for a while. Maybe bring him to the kitchen?" Madge suggests, massaging Gale's shoulders in an attempt to calm her boyfriend down. Katniss nods and she and Peeta go back to the kitchen. Peeta leans against the counter, and Katniss puts a hand on his shoulder.

"I can sense you're not alright, Peeta. Tell me what's wrong," Katniss says to the blonde boy.

"We're stuck in this mansion until tomorrow morning with a murderer and someone who wants to kill me every other time he looks at me. We're all tired. We could fall asleep at any given moment, and who knows what's going to happen in that time, Kat?" he says.

"Oh, Peeta. Nothing's going to happen. I'll stay up all night if I have to protect you," Katniss says.

"Kat, you need your rest. I'll stay up to fend for myself, okay?" Peeta says to the girl.

"Peeta, you're in a weak state! What if they—"

"Katniss, you can't change my mind. I have had one goal all night, and that was to make sure you got home alive. So far I've stuck to it and it's been working. If you don't go home alive, I don't know what I'm going to do. Okay, Kat? You're going to pass out eventually, and Cato could take advantage of that at any given moment. I need you with me," Peeta says.

"Peeta, I'm not leaving you, and I'm not letting you stay up for me, either. You're vulnerable, and you're going to pass out at any given moment just as much as I am," Katniss tries to reason.

"Then look. We're both at the same vulnerability. Why don't we go into one of the rooms upstairs and sleep there for the night? Nobody else will know which room we're in, or which floor for that matter," Peeta says. Katniss nods slowly, lips pursed.

"That'll work, I suppose," she says.

"Good. You go grab the weapons and I'll go find a room. It's only going to be on the floor above this one, probably near the stairs," Peeta says. Katniss nods and walks off as Peeta heads up the stairs. Katniss walks by the living room, gathers up her bow, arrows, and Peeta's sword. The others eye her but say nothing as she heads up the stairs.

Peeta is three doors down on the right waving her over. He pulls open the door to let her in to a bedroom with a king-sized canopy bed that has black silky sheets on them. Katniss sticks the weapons in a corner, and she and Peeta sit down on the bed and flick on the TV.

"I hope nobody finds us. They were all looking at me suspiciously when I went to get the weapons," Katniss says.

"Don't worry, Katniss. I won't let any harm come to you up here."

* * *

"Cato, I still can't believe you! "

"Clove, I said I'm sorry!"

"Sorry? That's _all_ you have to say? You killed some of my best friends and the guy I liked that I knew it would never work out with! You overreacted, Cato! You have no idea how much I would like to stab you right now! I hate you so much. You drive me crazy! And before this, that used to be a pretty darn good thing! But now? Ugh, you disgust me. I still don't know why I'm talking to you."

Clove spins on her heel and turns to walk out the door when Cato calls her name.

"Clove, wait. Please…don't go."

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't," Clove snaps, turning back around and crossing her arms.

"I'm lonely."

"Gee, I wonder why that is."

"Clove, please…don't walk out on me yet. Can't I get a chance to redeem myself?"

"You're going to be sent to juvie when we get home, Cato."

"B-But—"

"No buts."

"Clove, give me another chance, I beg of you!"

"No! You ruined my life Cato! This will take decades of intense therapy to finally be erased from my mind, and it'll probably end up coming back anyway!"

Cato grabs Clove wrist as she attempts to leave the living room. Clove tries to jerk her hand away, only to be pulled closer to Cato.

"Let go of me!" she cries, "Johanna! Marvel! Get in here! Oh, where are they?"

"Listen, Clove. I'm not going to hurt you," Cato says lowly.

"Let me go, Cato!"

"Clove, no. Listen to me and then I'll let you go!" Cato says.

"Fine," Clove huffs to him.

Cato nods with a small, grateful smile.

"Look Clove. I know I acted irrational, and I doubt I'll ever get out of juvie when we go back home. But I need to tell you," he says, stroking her cheek. Clove calms down the slightest.

"Yeah?"

"I've loved you…for the _longest_ time…," Cato says, pushing stray hairs from Clove's face. Clove blushes furiously as Cato's face inches closer to hers, and an impulse overtakes her. She closes the small gap between her lips and Cato's. The two teens pour all of the events of the night into the passion of the kiss. Clove's hands get entangled in Cato's hair, and Cato's hands press Clove even closer to him.

"Yuck, you two! Get a room, would you?" Johanna shouts, walking into the room.

"Huh?" Clove asks, breaking away from the kiss.

"You screamed for Marvel and me. So we delayed ourselves, naturally," Johanna explains.

"Okay, so if he had been killing me for real, I would be dead now is what you're saying?" Clove snaps.

"Yep, pretty much," Marvel says with a nod.

"Okay…that's just plain rude, and get out of here now. I don't need you, since you delayed yourselves," Clove says, shooing the pair out.

* * *

"Mellark. He's gonna kill us all. We need to get away, Madge. He's going to come after us and kill us. I say I shoot an arrow through that heart of his and we make our escape," Gale says to Madge, breathing heavily as they sit in another bedroom on the second floor. Madge shakes her head at him.

"Gale. Peeta is innocent. Cato is the killer. Cato. Cato. _Cato_."

_I'm running breathlessly for my life. Madge is at my right, Katniss is at my left. And behind us is a rabid Peeta, laughing maniacally and swinging his sword about, shouting at us about how gruesome our demises would be. Madge screams in fear as we hit a dead end, and Peeta grabs Katniss by the arm. Frantically, I grab her and yank her back to me. But Peeta's pull begins to overpower mine, and Katniss screams for my arms to be around hers. I hear the sound of a blade cutting through skin, and a sickening thud. Madge and I hesitantly look to see Katniss's decapitated head on the ground. Peeta grins, laughing at the sheer insanity of it. He hacks up the rest of Katniss and turns toward Madge. The only girl left. The only girl left I truly do care about, minus my little sister Posy, and Katniss's little sister Prim. I lunge for Peeta and tackle him. The sword flies from his hands and clatters to the floor a few feet away. Peeta struggles under my grip to get back his weapon._

_ "You evil idiot. Prepare to die," I growl out. Madge tosses me my bow and arrow. I get up in a swift, fluid motion and draw back the string. The arrow sails into Peeta's heart, and I have done justice. I just know I have. Madge is safe with me. It is a shame Katniss had to go, but now her killer is done with._

"Gale!" Madge shouts, slapping the boy across the face. Gale's gray eyes widen into vicious pools of hate.

"Out of my way, Madge. I'm finding Mellark and taking him down before he kills anyone else."

Madge jumps on top of Gale, and both go crashing to the floor before Gale can reach the doorknob.

"No! Gale! Stop it! CATO IS THE KILLER!"

* * *

Later that night, when Katniss is sure everyone is sleeping, she quietly tip-toes out of the room, and she shuts the door behind her. She makes her way down the hall and hears the snoring of Gale and Madge as she passes one of the rooms. On the couch downstairs, Clove is asleep with a big groove next to her; Cato's shape. Katniss's blood runs cold as she hurriedly walks into the kitchen. Marvel is passed out on the floor, snoring. Johanna is slumped across the table, a can of soda still in her hand. But there is no sign of Cato. Katniss freezes when she hears footsteps behind her, with mad laughter. No, Cato was much calmer earlier. Katniss spins on her heel, and there Cato stands. His eyes are wild, and his mouth and hands have a bluish tint.

The tracker-jacker powder.

"Going somewhere, Miss Everdeen?" Cato asks snidely.

"Cato," Katniss says nervously.

"Little Everdeen. I'm about to save your life. Did you know that boyfriend of yours is going to kill us all?" Cato says.

_The tracker-jacker venom doesn't just make them crazy…Cato made it so it turns everyone against Peeta…_

"No. No, Cato, he wouldn't. You purposely had some of that tracker-jacker powder. You're trying to hurt Peeta and I with a justified reason. You…you're crazy," Katniss says in a low voice, looking to Johanna and Marvel, to see if they will wake up. But no such thing happens. Instead, before Katniss can see it coming, she feels metal collide with the back of her head, and her whole world falls black.

* * *

"Kat…Katniss? Katniss, where are you?" Peeta asks groggily, sitting up in the darkness. Katniss's side of the bed is empty, and Peeta begins to get the suspicion someone is watching him. Before Peeta can process it, three different people lunge for him. One of them has him pinned by the arms, the other has the legs, and one towers over him as he lies down on the bed, looking at the ringleader of his attack.

"Cato," Peeta growls.

"Peeta Mellark, the killer of everyone at this party," Cato snarls back. Peeta takes notice of the blue dust on Cato's mouth and fingers, and then looks at his attackers, Marvel and Gale. Both have the same trademark of the tracker-jacker poison on them. Peeta glares up at Cato.

"You're sick," he snaps.

"I always am. Marvel, Gale, take him to the torture room."

* * *

The torture room is only a short ways away from the bedroom. Peeta at first thinks the room is empty, minus all of the torture equipment. But Peeta notices someone struggling against three more hijack victims, Clove, Johanna, and Madge. That someone is Katniss herself, being strapped down to some sort of examination table. Peeta grimaces at the sight as he is thrown into a cell. Katniss's gray eyes dart across the room to the blonde boy.

"Peeta!" she cries.

"Katniss!" Peeta shouts in response.

"Yes, yes, the two little lovebirds," Cato says, "I'm about to be your worst nightmare, if I wasn't already."

"I thought you hijacked yourself!" Katniss and Peeta shout simultaneously.

"No, I put that there as evidence. Even if I did, I concocted the poison, and I know how to control it within me. The others are hijacked into following me, you brainless two," Cato says.

"So what exactly are you going to do to me, now that you have me?" Katniss asks curiously.

"I don't know, maybe I'll hijack you, too. Then we'll all just gang up on Peeta and kill him, so he won't be too much of a problem anymore," Cato says.

"No, don't you do anything to her!" Peeta shouts from his cell.

"And why shouldn't I?" Cato responds.

"Because, she really didn't do anything to you, and it's clear it's me that you want," Peeta tries to talk Cato out of it.

"Yeah. It's you that I want. To suffer," Cato replies.

"I still don't get why you're doing this. All of us know your tactics and why exactly you went into killer mode. So why are you doing this now?" Katniss asks.

"Because, all of them are hijacked, now. They don't know a thing about what's going on, and I am intent on keeping it that way," Cato responds cruelly.

"I. Hate. You. So. Much," Peeta snaps.

"Likewise," Cato responds before turning back to his work. Peeta and Katniss lock gazes while Clove, Madge, Johanna, Marvel, and Gale all stand around in the corners, every once in a while glaring at Peeta before laughing maniacally.

"It'll be okay," Katniss tries to reassure Peeta.

"I know it won't," Cato pipes up.

"Shut it, traitor!" Peeta yells at him.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in District 12, Haymitch gets a knock on the door in the middle of the night. Still suffering from the effects of a hangover before he fell asleep, Haymitch stumbles to the door and pulls it open to see Effie standing there, looking at him worriedly.

"Hey, Princess, why are you here in the middle of the night?" Haymitch slurs.

"Haymitch, I'm worried about the children up in that mansion. I've tried calling them but I think the storm knocked out power up there. Plus, I overheard Gale explaining things to the other four of them from here. I was outside talking to Mrs. Everdeen when I overheard him. Do you think someone could've murdered half the party?" Effie says.

"Listen, Pinkie, they know how to fend for themselves, 'kay? They'll be fine," Haymitch responds.

"I don't know, Haymitch…"

"If it makes you feel better, I'll get a group of Peacekeepers to escort us there. It'll only take an hour, okay? We'll just check up on them, and maybe we'll stay the night with them, to keep a watchful eye. It's a mansion, too, so we'll find a bedroom, one for each of us," Haymitch says.

"Well…alright," Effie finally agrees. Haymitch nods and pulls on a jacket, and begins to make his way toward the Hob.

"Where are you going?" Effie questions.

"To get Peacekeepers. Don't question a thing and you'll be fine," Haymitch replies.

* * *

Misery. Pure misery and anguish. He can feel the pain coursing through Katniss's veins as the whip lets out another lash. Cato laughs cheerfully, like a maniac, at the torture inflicted upon the Everdeen girl, and Peeta wishes it were him being whipped so harshly, and not the girl he loves. Peeta vaguely remembers another time, where this could quite possibly have happened to her in the town center back home in District 12.

_This particular December afternoon was chillier than most residents of District 12 had expected. I was putting up a display in a window, and then I saw a band of Peacekeepers questioning Hazelle, Gale's mom. I knew my mom was out in 7, visiting a friend of hers. My dad was the only one home, taking care of me, and even then, he's out at a bakers' meeting at one of his buddies' houses in downtown. That left me to watch the bakery, all alone. I quickly put a sign on the door that read "Be Back Soon" and jogged out. I darted behind a tree and listened to them._

_ "Ma'am, we're demanding to know where your oldest son is. He's supposed to start work in the mines today, since he turned nineteen two weeks ago. He was set to show up this morning but we haven't found him," one of the Peacekeepers said harshly, a glare coming over his face. My breath hitched; Katniss and Gale were in the woods, I knew it for a fact. I slinked away from the scene and ran toward the fence at the edge of the woods. I could see Katniss and Gale starting to head back from my spot on top of a barrel of something, but then I noticed the Peacekeepers, four of them, chatting nearby. I didn't want to be seen, so I ducked down._

_ Katniss and Gale never really associated with me and I never really associated with them. We were from two different parts of District 12; I was a townsperson, a merchant kid, while they were from the Seam. I never really understood the big deal about it, just that they were unfortunate enough where they had less money and were considered dirty scum we weren't to talk to. My mother was very enforcing of this rule that I was not to help them in any way, or even wave hello. _

_ It was stupid, really, to me._

_ I looked toward the Peacekeepers, in their pristine white uniforms, guns slung across their chests, whips in their hands, not afraid to hurt Katniss and Gale. I felt bad for them, genuinely, I did. I just hoped the Peacekeepers wouldn't find them hunting. That could result in a public flogging or death at worst. They've been doing this for years, too, and if the Peacekeepers found out, they would be dead for sure. _

_ The saddest part was that they're doing this to keep their families alive._

_ I needed a plan. I knew that Peacekeeper, Darius, was a friend of Katniss's, and he knew she and Gale hunted. It was unusual for a merchant to go to the Hob, but not unheard of. I raced down there as fast as I could. Darius was heading back up the street toward me, and he grinned slightly when he saw me. He found out somehow about my crush on Katniss a few weeks ago, when I fell asleep on the job and he came for bread, when I was working a late shift at the bakery._

_ "Peeta, how are you?" he asked me with a bright smile._

_ "Eh. I could be better. Listen, Darius, Katniss and Gale are in some bit of trouble. I really need your help. Can you maybe call an emergency Peacekeeper meeting? They're out hunting and Gale was supposed to be in the mines today. They're heading back now and there are Peacekeepers at the fence," I said._

_ "Katniss and Gale…I suppose I can, since they kept me fed after I got sick a few weeks ago. Alright, Mellark, I'll do it," Darius said._

_ "Please, can I get you anything in return?" I asked._

_ "Just make sure they stay outta trouble, boy. I can see you like her, and it would be a shame for her to get in trouble," Darius responded._

_ "Thank you, Darius," I said, and I went back to the bakery. Later that afternoon, Katniss herself showed up and plunked herself down at a stool at the front counter. I turned to her, covered in flour and frosting._

_ "May I help—Katniss?" _

_ "Hey, Peeta," she said to me, "Darius told me how you warned him about us. I wanted to thank you."_

_ "Oh, err, it wasn't a problem," I had responded. It was that afternoon as well that our strong bond formed. I never really regretted saving her from that flogging._

But now her screams of pain ring in Peeta's ears, tearing his heart in half. Blood is beginning to mat down Katniss's clothes and hair, covering parts of her skin. Peeta tries to break through the bars with his own strength, to no avail. Cato grins and jeers at him.

"You can't win, Peeta. She's going to slip into unconsciousness, and then I'll hijack her, too! You can't win! You lost, Peeta!"

"Peeta," Katniss pleads weakly from her spot.

"Katniss! Kat, don't let him put you under!"

"It's too late for your wimpy begging now, Mellark!" Cato yells at him.

"Peeta!" Katniss screams.

"Kat! No!" Peeta yelps as Cato brings the whip down one last time. Katniss lets out an earsplitting scream, and then darkness overtakes her world.

"Katniss!" Peeta yells.

Cato smirks at him.

"You're too late now, Mellark. Soon enough, my next batch of tracker-jacker poison will be complete, and then I'll unleash all of them on you. You'll never live to see another day after that. I'll have finally beaten you," Cato says, grinning deviously as he walks over to a lab table, topped with a myriad of different chemicals for mixing.

"Why? I just want to know…why are you doing this to us?" Peeta asks.

"I told you! I hate you! You have everything I've ever wanted in life! You have a girlfriend, your parents love you! …Well your dad does at least, and so do your brothers! My family hates me! Clove never liked me back! I may live in District Two but that doesn't mean my life is perfect!" Before Peeta can respond to Cato's snap, the murderer suddenly stumbles, and he tumbles to the floor, blacking out as well.

"Wait…what?" Peeta mutters.

* * *

**So, Cato decided that by hijacking everyone else, they won't remember this and he can get away with killing Peeta after all. Super nice guy, right? Note my sarcasm, please do. So, we've figured out Peeta's motives for most deaths, but specifically, here they are:**

**Annie: To begin the night with a bang, Cato killed her, also leaving no real purpose for her death other than her loving relationship with Finnick.**

**Cashmere: Gloss's sister, Cato pretended to love her and then killed her next to make the others believe he was not the one to kill her.**

**Gloss: Cashmere's brother, Clove liked him. Cato despised him for having Clove's affection, and he kills him out of envy. **

**Finnick: Cato got tired of his whining over Annie's death, and was envious of his loving relationship with Annie.**

**Glimmer: Marvel was starting to get away from the plan, and decide he didn't really like it, so to show him he had to stay with the plan, Cato killed his crush, Glimmer.**

**Delly: A hometown friend of Peeta, Katniss, Gale, and Madge, Cato killed her out of envy of the other four's relationships.**

**Foxface: To throw everyone off, Cato killed her next.**

**And he's still crazy, despite that moment with Clove. He never learns, does he? No, huh. Well, now what happened? WHAT JUST HAPPENED? Why did Cato pass out? You all want to know, but I already do. Ha ha! **

**See you all in the next (and possibly last) chapter!**


	7. Closure

**Short chapter to end it and finally reveal what the heck happened during the night, and the next two chapters will be behind the scenes and interviews. So...sappy ending, short ending. I must speak to the reviewers, as always!**

**vampirepanda12: Thank you! Clove did like him back! Here's the update!**

**CloveDiedForYourSins: You're welcome on the Clato kiss, and lol. **

**Y.O.L.O So do it right: Yeah, I sensed the irony the whole time I was writing it. In my head, Peeta was thanking me for not hijacking him, and then wringing my neck the next minute for making them all try to kill him. And I'll introduce you to Cato right now! Ha, ha. Here's the update!**

**The Knife Throwing Expert: Thank you! Thanks for pointing out that mistake for me. And thank you again! Here's the update!**

**Arianna: I know, it's sad coming to a close. But have no fear, I favor AU modern day stories! *Poses like Superman* But anyway, thanks for reviewing and here's the update!**

**The Mockingjays Flames: Nah, no Peacekeepers coming to shoot him now, and nobody escaping the hijacking. It'll be revealed here!**

**HogwartsDreamer113: Nope, nope, and nope. I don't think Peeta's the hero here, but instead...well, you didn't expect me to just tell you, did you? Here's the update!**

**QisaQ: Thank you and here's the update!**

**Okay guys...last chapter of the story. Next chapter will either be behind-the-scenes/out-takes or interviews, and then whichever does not occur in the next chapter occurs in the one after. Read on!**

* * *

Night of No End  
by SassySunshine  
Closure

Peeta doesn't know how long he'd been staring at Cato, or how long it'd been since Katniss went into unconsciousness, or even how long the others who had been hijacked had also all watched Cato fall to the floor, and go back to chatting amongst themselves, but it was a while by his estimates. The blonde boy peers out of his cell, to see the boy from District 2 still hasn't awoken. Peeta reviews the day's events in his head, trying to conclude with something logical, but his answer doesn't come. He looks to Katniss this time, to see she is starting to stir. Her gray eyes lock on his blue ones, and the two of them don't say anything, but instead let their gazes wander to Cato.

"I'm bored," Hijacked Gale declares, interrupting the staring, "I say we all kill Mellark now instead of waiting for orders."

"No! Let's go find something to eat. We were supposed to have a proper pizza dinner, but we didn't. We can't kill on empty stomachs," Hijacked Johanna says, winning the favor of Hijacked Clove, Hijacked Madge, and Hijacked Marvel. Hijacked Gale gives in and they leave the room without another word, leaving Katniss and Peeta stunned and confused.

"Well, that was weird," Peeta finally announces.

"I don't feel hijacked, Peeta. Did he hijack me at all? Did he give me any of the tracker-jacker stuff?" Katniss asks.

"No, he was going to mix some new stuff, and then I started interrupting him and yelling at him. Then he just gasped and blacked out. He's been like that for a while now," Peeta replies, eying Cato. The District 2 boy begins to stir, grabbing the attention of the other two occupants of the room. His eyes slowly open and begin to widen.

"Someone explain to me what's going on here. I have no clue what just happened," Cato says.

"Cato? You murdered half the party," Katniss responds slowly as Cato walks over to undo her restraints.

"That…that wasn't me," Cato says.

"Yes, it was," Peeta calls from his cell.

"No…that's my dark side. My literal dark side. I have Multiple Personality Disorder. That was Rantinto, my evil half. He only responded to Cato, probably, because that half literally is evil. Guys…I swear that wasn't me. That other side of me has anger issues…bad anger issues that lead him to be violent and murderous. This is the second time it's happened," Cato explains.

"So you mean to tell me that you have a disorder nobody knew about, your evil side Rantinto killed Annie, Cashmere, Gloss, Finnick, Glimmer, Delly, and Farrah, hijacked everyone else that's alive, pushed me into an ocean off of a seven-story balcony in a thunderstorm with driving rain, and nearly hijacked Katniss so everyone could kill me?" Peeta asks. Cato nods slowly, taking in all of the information.

"Well, this is news to me," Peeta says.

"You mentioned this being the second time it's happened?" Katniss asks. Cato nods.

"Yeah…I was diagnosed with the disorder a few months before it happened. I was at the doctors' office getting my check-up and I hated the idea of having the disorder. Rantinto will get mad at any little thing and completely overtook me. I'll skip to the end: I had a knife, ready to slit my doctors' throat when the nurses came in. It wasn't until I was restrained and put under an anesthetic that he left me for a while. I wasn't put on any charges, since I was only twelve at the time and I was still coming to terms with everything, not to mention it was my other personality," Cato explains.

"I don't know if they're going to file charges this time. They might. Does anyone else even know of this disorder of yours?" Peeta asks.

"No. I never told anyone. I was afraid of letting out Rantinto's secret of living in me. I was scared he'd lash out, so I never told anyone," Cato responds.

"Well you know what? Now we've gotta get that venom out of Gale, Madge, Clove, Marvel, and Johanna," Katniss says.

"Leave that to us," a voice calls from the door. Katniss, Peeta, and Cato all turn to see Haymitch standing there.

"Haymitch! What are you doing here?" Katniss asks.

"Effie got worried. Plus she was talking to your mother, discussing Prim when she overheard Gale explaining that old game Clue and those murder movies before you guys left. She tried calling but apparently her calls never got through. We've managed to contain Madge, Gale, Johanna, Marvel, and Clove. Care to explain where the others are?" Haymitch replies, glaring at Cato.

"Haymitch…err, Mister Abernathy, I killed everyone else…kind of. I have Multiple Personality Disorder, and my other side is named Rantinto, but Rantinto…he doesn't like people telling the difference. He's smart enough to respond to Cato so he doesn't get caught. Please, sir. Ask my parents or my doctor. They're the only ones who are aware. I truly do have the disorder," Cato says.

"I'll buy your story for now, since I should really be sleeping. Just lead me to the bodies," Haymitch says.

* * *

Two tear-filled hours later, Gale and Madge are sitting in the Peacekeepers' headquarters, the police station of District 12, for questioning about the night. Katniss and Peeta sit by the side. Katniss shows signs of having been crying. The Mellarks are there, even Peeta's mom. The Hawthornes, Undersees, and Everdeens are also all there. Even the Cartwrights have come. Haymitch sits in a chair next to Effie while Darius questions Gale and Madge.

"Miss Undersee, I understand you were hijacked during the last hour or so of this mansion party by a Mister Cato Anderson, who claims to have Multiple Personality Disorder and that his aggressive other half, Rantinto, was actually the one who did it. Would you care to elaborate on the party before your hijacking?" Darius asks.

"Sure thing, Darius. Okay, so before the party, Gale, Delly, and I went to Katniss's house where Peeta was cooking and Katniss was packing up the last of their things. Gale explained to us this old board game Clue and old horror movies with murders in them. We all brought weapons in case someone should go crazy. We got there, and for a while we just watched TV. Then we played truth or dare. Peeta was going to make pizza after that when the lights went out and someone screamed. The light stayed off for an additionally long period of time before coming back on. Annie was dead," Madge says.

"And then what happened?" Darius presses.

"We went to go split up with our weapons when we realized they were scattered around the house so only the murderer could have access…"

* * *

It's a few hours later by the time Madge, Gale, Peeta, and Katniss all explain their sides of the story. Darius nods toward all of them to send them home. They all walk home in a group. Mr. and Mrs. Cartwright sob the entire way to the Undersees' house, where they'd be staying the night. Madge heads off to Gale's house. Peeta looks to his dad, who nods and sends him off to the Everdeens' for the night. Peeta places an arm around Katniss while Prim can only smile at his affection for her. Katniss leans her head on his shoulder.

"I'm gonna miss everyone who's gone, Peeta," she says quietly. Peeta nods.

"I know."

They, along with Prim and Mrs. Everdeen, walk the rest of the way to the Everdeen house in silence. When they get there, Peeta and Katniss head up to Katniss's bedroom to rest on Katniss's bed.

"Peeta…what if Gale's hijacking never wears off? What if every time we get too close to him, he wants to kill you again? And now what about Madge?" Katniss whispers.

"I don't know, Kat. His form of hijacking was pretty crude, putting poison with some tracker-jacker venom into them. Unlike the Capitol's testing labs, where they have to add a bunch of different chemicals and more venom for a better hijacking. I'd give it a few months to wear off, maybe even a year," Peeta replies.

"I'm scared," Katniss says.

"I'll protect you," Peeta responds.

"Stay with me?"

"Always."

* * *

Back in District 2, after Cato has explained everything to the Peacekeepers, he sits in a holding cell waiting for his parents to come and get him, and most likely punish him. No charges will be pressed against him due to his disorder. He twiddles his thumbs in his seat when the creak of a cell door sounds. Cato looks up to see a guard standing there.

"Mister Anderson, you're ready to be taken home by a family under the last name Neilson with instructions from your parents," the guard says. Cato peers around the guard to see Clove standing there.

"Cato," she says slowly.

"Clove…," Cato mumbles.

"Cato. I heard about your disorder. Why didn't you tell me?" Clove asks, sitting down next to him.

"I was scared to, Clove. Rantinto gets mad about every little thing, and I didn't want him to come out and hurt you. But I guess that backfired, because he did anyway," Cato says.

"Cato…alright. I just need to know…was it you or Rantinto that kissed me like that?" Clove asks. Cato hangs his head miserably.

"Rantinto…"

"Well, I say that Rantinto wasn't as good as the real Cato…the Cato I really do love," Clove whispers, brushing Cato's cheek. Her eyes linger on his before moving on to looking down at the floor. Cato brings his arms around her, engulfing the girl in a hug. Neither of them say anything as Cato tilts her chin up, so that they are staring at each other.

"Cato…"

"Don't say anything…"

They gently close the gap between their lips, and the kiss is more passionate than anything Rantinto could have done. Neither of them pull away for a long, long time, until Clove's parents come in and see them kissing.

"Um, Clove, I think it'd be best for us to get Cato home now," Clove's father interrupts.

* * *

Two months later, Clove sits on at the beach at the edge of District 12, looking out into the shimmering blue water. Her feet dip into the cool liquid, and momentarily she is lost among the waves. Her brown eyes scan the horizon with the seating sun as background, searching for something unknown. Peace? Closure?

No, she received that at the end of the night of the horror at the mansion.

"Clove? Aren't you coming back inside for the healing party?" a voice calls behind her.

Cato.

"Just a minute, Cato," Clove says in response.

A healing party is being held in remembrance of those who were killed by Rantinto at a beach house in District 12, hosted by Gale to make up for his actions during his hijacking before everyone else. Cato hadn't felt like going, had Clove not convinced him to. So what was the convincer herself doing out here by herself.

"Clove…you're scared the same thing is going to happen tonight, aren't you?" Cato asks.

"Yeah…I am, actually. I don't want you to die…and I don't want to die either. Nobody at this party deserves to die, Cato. Nobody," Clove whispers.

"Don't worry, Clove…that won't happen."

* * *

True to his word, the next morning, everyone is alive and well. Sticking to their promise, over the course of the next few years, the eight remaining friends from that disastrous night at the mansion get together every weekend. Not once has there been another death, not once has there been another injury inflicted by another. The murders at the mansion have scarred them, but they vow to overcome it as their lives progress.

They have ended their night of no end.

* * *

**Don't hound me for the cruddy ending. I'll bring back Rantinto and unleash him on you! Okay, but yep. That's how it ends. In the next two chapters will be the interviews and behind the scenes on shooting this fanfic with the characters! So…I'll see you soon!**


End file.
